REED, MEASURING

mezh'-ur-ing (qeneh ha-middah): In Ezekiel's vision of the temple a "man" (an angel) appears with a "measuring reed" to measure the dimensions of the temple (Ezekiel 40:3 ff; Ezekiel 42:16 ff). The reed is described as 6 cubits long, "of a cubit and a handbreadth each," i.e. the cubit used was a handbreadth longer than the common cubit (see CUBIT ; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ; TEMPLE, A1 ). In the Apocalypse this idea of a measuring reed reappears for measuring the temple (Revelation 11:1) and the holy city (Revelation 21:15-16, "a golden reed"). The thought conveyed is exactitude in the dimensions of these edifices, symbolic of the symmetry and perfection of God's church.

James Orr

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.