The Site
In the city of Westminster, London, UK, holding the title as the most expensive house in the world, stands Buckingham Palace. Valued at around 5 billion USD, it has served as the official residence for British monarchs since 1837. In an earlier article, we identified the most prized piece of real estate on earth as the Promised Land. Now, we recognise that the most valued asset of that future land, indeed the entire world, is also a royal residence, the hallowed abode of the eternal King.
The exact location of this Millennial Temple will be upon the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Presently, this piece of ground is occupied by squatters, who, having erected their own temple, refuse point blank to vacate the property. It’s worthy to observe that it’s only in recent times that opponents of Israel have denied Jerusalem as historically Jewish. In a Temple Mount guidebook, published by Islamic authorities in 1924, the following statements are made: “The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest times. Its identity with the site of Solomon’s temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which David built there an altar.”1
In the 1950s, after the re-establishment of the State of Israel, adversaries of the Jewish people began to deny that Israel had any legitimate rights to the Temple Mount. Following Israel’s Six-Day War in 1967, Muslims lost control of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, with many Jews and Christians believing it was time for the long-awaited temple to be built. But this was not God’s timing, and, under pressure, the Israeli flag, raised by paratroopers, was taken down and the so-called sacred sites were returned to the jurisdiction of the Islamic Trust. None of this perturbs God. His program of both the Tribulation and Millennial Temple will come to pass, and none will prevent Him. Somehow, in perfect timing, perhaps through catastrophic circumstances, God will allow both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be removed and the Jewish temple constructed for tribulation days.
The Size
The sheer size of the Millennial Temple and its surrounds is truly mind-boggling. Reading Ezekiel chapters 40-48, and viewing a current map of Jerusalem, one may wonder how a temple of such colossal size could possibly fit on the Temple Mount. Isaiah states twice that during the tribulation period the Lord shall arise “to shake terribly the earth” (Isa 2:19-21). The writer to the Hebrews corroborates, “Yet once more [italics mine] I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (12:26).2 Some suggest that the first cataclysmic earthquake came in the days of Peleg, when the singular land mass of earth was violently divided by cleavage (Gen 10:25). Haggai states, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations” (2:6-7 ESV). So catastrophic are events during this time that the topography of the whole world will be dramatically altered. Revelation 16 records that at the outpouring of the final vial, the greatest earthquake ever to occur in the history of the planet shall take place. Valleys will be lifted, mountains and hills levelled (Isa 40:4; Luk 3:5-6), islands will dissolve into the sea, capital cities will fall, and Jerusalem will divide into three parts (Rev 16:19-20). We take time to bow and thank God for Christ, who shall rescue us from “the wrath to come” (1Th 1:10).
Zechariah 14 records how that at the return of our Lord, the Mount of Olives will split in two, with Jerusalem becoming a seaport. All of this will create a new enlarged plateau, with Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 testifying that the Temple Mount will become the highest point on earth. Ezekiel 45 outlines that the area surrounding the Millennial Temple will be approximately 50 miles (80 kms.) by 50 miles (25,000 reeds square).3 This is divided up into three sections. The northern section, measuring 50 by 20 miles, will encompass a place for “the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok” (Eze 48:11). The Millennial Temple will be located “in the midst” (vv8-10). This majestic edifice will measure 1 mile square (45:2)! The central section, reserved for the Levites, measures 50 by 20 miles (v5). Finally, the southern section will be 50 by 10 miles, where the city of Jerusalem will be located, itself being 10 by 10 miles square (vv6-8).4 Contemplating these things, we grasp something of the future gargantuan capital city of our world.
The Sovereign
This magnificent temple will be like nothing this world has ever seen before. Built by Christ Himself (Zec 6:12-13), the dimensions of rooms, courts, gates, walls, pillars, doors, all with intricate designs, are recorded for us in Ezekiel chapters 40-45. Glittering above the skyline of Jerusalem, it shall stand as a testimony to the faithfulness of God. In that day, “many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa 2:3).
In the beginning, mankind went out “east” away from God (Gen 3:24; 4:16; 11:2), wicked Nimrod leading the people in rebellion and proclaiming, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name” (11:4). Man, with the puny arm of flesh, could never prevail against the Almighty, and the Lord confused the languages and scattered the people. In the end, our blessed Saviour shall come from the east. First, He will come as the Morning Star to rescue the Church from the wrath to come. Then again, He will come as the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2) to deliver His peculiar treasure, Israel (Psa 135:4), and lead this world in building for God. Finally, when the temple is built, He who spanned the distance at Calvary, He who fulfilled the ministry of the high priest who sprinkled the blood “eastward” on the mercy seat, shall gloriously enter via the eastern gate (Eze 43:1-5). We shall watch transfixed as He takes His place upon the throne. Out from under the threshold of the door shall flow a river of living waters, replenishing this world, and the whole earth shall be full of His glory (Eze 47:1; Isa 6:1-3)!
1 Randall Price, Rose Guide to The Temple (Peabody, MA: Rose Publishing, 2012), 117.
2 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
3 Ezekiel 40:5 states that 1 reed = 6 long cubits. 1 long cubit = 20-24 inches. Therefore, 6 long cubits = approximately 10 feet. 10 feet x 25,000 = approximately 50 miles. Same calculations for temple 10 x 500 feet = 1 mile.
4 Ezekiel 48 expands these details.
