40:1 Ezekiel dated the vision that comprises the final portion of the book as coming to him in 573 B.C., more than 12 years after his immediately preceding messages (cf. 33:21-22).512He located it in time using two points of reference, in relation to the beginning of the Exile and in relation to the fall of Jerusalem. Perhaps he dated it so precisely since what this vision describes has been hard for many readers to accept at face value. Nevertheless the prophet affirmed that the Lord did indeed give it to him at this specific time.
If this vision came to Ezekiel on the tenth day of the first month of Israel's religious calendar, their month Nisan, as seems likely, it arrived just before the Jews began preparing for Passover.513We do not know if the exiles observed the Passover, but they certainly would have been thinking about it. If the vision came to Ezekiel in the first month of their civil calendar, it would have come on the day of Atonement. That day too would have been a fitting time for the reception of this vision. The subject of this vision would have encouraged the exiles that Yahweh would fulfill His purposes for their nation as they contemplated its history and His promises.
40:2 The Lord took Ezekiel in his vision to the land of Israel and set him on a high mountain there (cf. 1:1; 8:3).514Looking south he saw a structure that resembled a city. As the vision unfolds, what he saw proved to be a temple complex with walls, courtyards, and various structures.
Ezekiel's transportation in a vision back to Israel amounted to a kind of homecoming for him. He had previously been in Babylon in his visions (3:14-15; 8:3; 11:24), but now the Lord took him, as He would later take all the Israelites, back to the Promised Land.515
40:3 Ezekiel also saw a man who appeared to be made out of bronze standing in the main gateway to this structure. Bronze in Scripture often represents what is strong (cf. 1 Kings 4:13; Job 40:18). The man had in his hand a length of flax (linen cord) and a rod (reed) used to measure things. He would use the rod to measure shorter distances and the cord to measure longer ones.
40:4 The man told Ezekiel to pay close attention to what he would see and hear because he needed to declare the content of his vision to the Israelites. Its details were important.
