(39) In the porch.--The preposition admits the sense of either in or by, but as the porch was very small for two tables on either side, and as a thoroughfare would be an inconvenient place for the slaughter of the victims, it is better to take the sense of by. The four tables were arranged, two on either side, near the porch.
Verses 39-42. - The tables. These were twelve in number, of which eight were used for slaughtering purposes, i.e. either for slaying the sacrifices or for laying upon them the carcasses of the slaughtered victims; and the remaining four for depositing thereon the instruments employed in killing the animals. Of the eight, four stood within the porch of the gate, two on each side, and four without - two on the side as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate; rather, at the shoulder to one going up to the gate opening towards the north, i.e. on the outside of the porch north wall; and two on the other side or shoulder, i.e. on the outside of the porch south wall. This determines the gate in question to have been, not the north gate, as the Authorized Version has conjectured, but the east gate, whose side walls looked towards the north and south. The third quaternion of tables appears to have been planted at the steps, presumably two on' each side, i.e. if with Kliefoth, Keil, and Schroder, לָעולָה be translated "at the ascent," or "going up," i.e. at the staircase (comp. ver. 26). If, however, with the Authorized and Revised Versions, Ewald, Hengstenberg, Smend, and others, לָעולָה be read "for the burnt offering," then the exact position of the tables is left undetermined, though in any case they must have been near the slaughtering-tables. As they were designed for heavy instruments, they were constructed of hewn stones a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; from which it may be argued the eight previously mentioned were made of wood.
40:1-49 The Vision of the Temple. - Here is a vision, beginning at ch. 40, and continued to the end of the book, ch. 48, which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. When we despair to be satisfied as to any difficulty we meet with, let us bless God that our salvation does not depend upon it, but that things necessary are plain enough; and let us wait till God shall reveal even this unto us. This chapter describes two outward courts of the temple. Whether the personage here mentioned was the Son of God, or a created angel, is not clear. But Christ is both our Altar and our Sacrifice, to whom we must look with faith in all approaches to God; and he is Salvation in the midst of the earth, Ps 74:12, to be looked unto from all quarters.
And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side,.... This is still the north gate of the inward court, which had a porch that reached from the outward to the inner gate of it, in which were three little chambers on each side, Ezekiel 40:36, between each of which were a space of five cubits, Ezekiel 40:7, so that there were two such spaces on each side; and in these spaces, as Starckius well conjectures, these tables were placed, two on one side, and two on the other: the use of them was,
to slay thereon the burnt offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; all typical of the sacrifice of Christ: concerning the "burnt offering", as such; see Gill on Ezekiel 40:38; and as for the "sin offering" and "trespass offering", which in the Hebrew language signify sin and guilt itself, they represented Christ, who had no sin in his nature, nor ever did any in his life, yet was made sin for his people; having all their sins laid upon him, with all that belong unto them, or are deserved by them: these were, the one for errors, strayings, and sins of ignorance; the other for known and wilful sins; and both show that Christ is a sacrifice for all sorts of sin, even for the most vile and enormous: now these tables were for those sacrifices to be slain upon them, or to be laid upon them, being slain; and signify in Gospel times the table of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 10:21 or the ordinance of the Lord's supper; in which there is not a reiteration, but a commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ; here he is evidently set forth as crucified and slain; his death as a sacrifice is shown, and held forth to the faith of the Lord's people, for their joy and comfort, Galatians 3:1.
to slay thereon the burnt offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; all typical of the sacrifice of Christ: concerning the "burnt offering", as such; see Gill on Ezekiel 40:38; and as for the "sin offering" and "trespass offering", which in the Hebrew language signify sin and guilt itself, they represented Christ, who had no sin in his nature, nor ever did any in his life, yet was made sin for his people; having all their sins laid upon him, with all that belong unto them, or are deserved by them: these were, the one for errors, strayings, and sins of ignorance; the other for known and wilful sins; and both show that Christ is a sacrifice for all sorts of sin, even for the most vile and enormous: now these tables were for those sacrifices to be slain upon them, or to be laid upon them, being slain; and signify in Gospel times the table of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 10:21 or the ordinance of the Lord's supper; in which there is not a reiteration, but a commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ; here he is evidently set forth as crucified and slain; his death as a sacrifice is shown, and held forth to the faith of the Lord's people, for their joy and comfort, Galatians 3:1.