The rooms and implements used for preparing sacrifices 40:38-43

40:38-41 Ezekiel also saw a room outside each of the three inner gate complexes close to its doorway. There priests would rinse animals brought as burnt offerings.⁵¹⁹Within each inner gate complex, in the vestibules, there were four tables where priests slaughtered animals brought as burnt, sin, and guilt offerings. Two tables stood on one side of each vestibule and two on the other side. There were also four tables on the outside of the northern inner gate complex, two on each side of the entrance. The north gate then had eight tables, four in the vestibule and four just outside the gate.⁵²⁰

The presence of animal sacrifices in the millennial system of worship has troubled many readers. The Book of Hebrews teaches that Jesus Christ was the superior sacrifice who replaced the sacrifices of the Old Covenant (Heb. 7-10). The best explanation seems to be that in the Millennium there will be animal sacrifices but they will be memorials of Christ's sacrifice even as the sacrifices of the Old Covenant anticipated His sacrifice. They will be like the Lord's Supper is for Christians, a memorial of Christ's death (1 Cor. 11:24, 26). The millennial system of worship will follow the restoration of Israel to her land and the resumption of her prominence in God's plan (Rom. 11:25-27). These sacrifices will appropriately reflect Israelite worship (cf. 45:18-25), though there will not be a reinstitution of the Old Covenant (cf. Rom. 10:4).⁵²¹Sacrifices under the Old Covenant never took away sin; they only covered sin temporarily and pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice to come (Heb. 10:1-4, 10). The purpose of sacrifices under the Old Covenant was to restore the Israelites to fellowship with God, not to provide salvation. Salvation was always by faith. Even after the church began, Jewish believers did not hesitate to participate in the sacrifices of Israel (cf. Acts 2:46; 3:1; 21:26). They viewed these sacrifices as memorials of Christ's sacrifice. There are several other passages that refer to sacrifices in the Millennium (cf. Isa. 56:7; 66:20-23; Jer. 33:18; Zech. 14:16-21; Mal. 3:3-4).

40:42-43 In addition to these four tables outside the inner gate complex, Ezekiel saw four tables of dressed stone, each one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits high, and one cubit high.⁵²²These were evidently near the other tables outside the entrance to the northern gate complex and held the utensils used in slaughtering the sacrificial animals. He also saw double hooks about three inches long hanging on the walls of the vestibule. Animal flesh was on the tables, animals that were being offered in sacrifice. Undoubtedly the hooks would hold the sacrificial meat.