יחזקאל, פרק מ׳, פסוק ז׳

The entrance to the Temple is far more than a simple doorway. It is a large architectural complex complete with long corridors, thick walls, and a network of small chambers leading into an inner hall. As the measurements move deeper into the structure, attention turns to these small rooms [רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. Commentators offer different views on their exact purpose. They may have been used by Temple workers or served as storage spaces [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Alternatively, they might have functioned as waiting rooms for visitors preparing to enter the sacred grounds [מלבי״ם]. Another perspective suggests their primary role was structural, serving to mark the outer boundaries of the gate complex [מצודת ציון].

These chambers were arranged in two rows, with three rooms on the right side of the gate and three on the left. They leaned outward against the wall of the Women's Courtyard, facing the broader Temple Mount [רש״י, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Each room was a perfect square, measuring exactly one reed, or six cubits, in both length and width [רש״י, רד״ק, אברבנאל, מלבי״ם]. Separating each of these chambers were solid walls five cubits thick [רש״י, רד״ק, אברבנאל, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Together, this sequence of perfectly measured rooms and thick dividing walls formed a long, structured corridor running through the hollow space of the gate [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Beyond this corridor, the pathway reached an inner domed hall [מצודת ציון] that connected to the gate and extended inward toward the main courtyard [רש״י]. At this point lay the inner threshold, the bottom frame of the doorway facing the interior of the Temple grounds [רש״י, רד״ק, אברבנאל, מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. Like the outer entrance, this inner threshold measured exactly one reed, or six cubits. This specific dimension was necessary to perfectly match and cover the thick walls of the inner hall [רש״י, רד״ק, אברבנאל, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם].