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40:17-19 The passageway in the eastern gate complex led into a courtyard. This was the outer court that contained an inner court within it. Around the perimeter of this outer court were 30 rooms. It is not clear if they were on three sides of the courtyard or four, and it is not clear what function they served. Perhaps they were meeting or storage rooms. A pavement, probably mosaic (cf. 2 Chron. 7:3; Esth. 1:6), known as the lower pavement formed a 50-cubit-wide border around the outer edge of the outer courtyard (cf. v. 15). Ezekiel's guide measured the outer courtyard between the outer and inner gates, and this space was 100 cubits wide (about 166 feet) on the east and north sides (and evidently on the south side too).
40:20-23 There was a gate complex on the north side of the wall that was identical to the one on the east (vv. 6-16). It too was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide, excluding its stairway. Seven steps led into the gate complex from the outside up to its threshold (v. 6). Looking straight through the north gate or through the east gate one could see, 100 cubits beyond (cf. v. 19), another inner gate complex. Ezekiel saw two of these inner gate complexes, one on the north side of the inner courtyard and one on the east side.
40:24-27 The measuring man took Ezekiel to the south side of the wall where he discovered the same arrangement that he had seen on the east and north sides.
