Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide. – Ezekiel 41:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 26, 2023): Ezekiel 41

I have always been intrigued by the idea of "safe rooms." What would it be like to have a room in a house built to keep problems out? Whether it is a fire or an intruder in the home, these rooms are constructed to keep the occupants safe while trouble reigns just outside the room's walls.

Of course, there are problems with "safe rooms." Maybe the biggest is that having a room is one thing, but when trouble shows up, you have to be able to get to the room. Is the" safe room" located where it is accessible from various places in the house? Because a "safe room" isn't very safe if the people of the house can't get to it.

Modern "safe rooms" are made secure by the materials used in their manufacture. Unique compounds that are resistant to ballistic weapons as well as impervious to other attempts that might be made to breach the room. And depending on the materials used, some "safe rooms" are more secure than others.

Another type of "safe room" isn't necessarily any different from other rooms except that it is hidden. In this case, the security comes from others simply not knowing that the room is there. But maybe the best "safe room" is a combination of both of these ideas of security; rooms that are made secure because they are hidden, as well as being made out of more secure materials.

As Ezekiel begins his description of this Temple, one of the first things we notice is that both the inside and outside walls of the Temple are massive. In this case, as well as in some others, the walls are thicker than the rooms they surround. The result is that this new Temple is even more massive than the one Solomon built. This Temple is not just a spiritual house; it was a well-engineered and constructed building that would be very difficult to breach.

Maybe part of the reason for the massive walls of this Temple is that Ezekiel didn't want to see the same thing happen to this Temple that happened to Solomon's Temple. This was a Temple that the Babylonians would have had a little more struggle trying to bring down. In fact, if the doors were barred, this Temple would have been more secure than the city itself. It is important to remember that Ezekiel's Temple has never been built. While this Temple would have been much larger than the one constructed by Solomon, Zerubbabel's Temple, which became Herod's Temple was smaller. And while Ezekiel's Temple would have been more secure, it also might have been impractical for Israel actually to build.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 42