Ezekiel 40:4
And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your mind upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all that you see to the house of Israel."
Ezekiel was a prophet who was called when Judah was carted off to captivity by the Babylonians. The Temple was in ruins like the city of Jerusalem around it. It looked like curtains for the people of Judah. But Ezekiel was sent to remind the dispirited Jews that though God promised to chastise the House of David when it sinned, he'd also promised to remain with it and be faithful. In today's passage, Ezekiel begin the climactic image of his book: the vision of the restored Temple. This gave hope to the refugees that the Temple would be rebuilt, but it did more: it pointed to a Temple not made with hands. For, in fact, the temple the returning Judeans built did not look like the Temple in the vision. That Temple could only be built by the One who, five centuries later, declared, "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up!"
