Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 40:48-49

"Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side." — Ezekiel 40:48-49 (ASV)

The Porch of the House. The front of the temple-porch (see G, Plan I) consisted of a central opening with two columns on either side. Two columns with the space between them were called “a post of the gate.” “The breadth of the gate” on either side was a side opening, that is, the opening between two columns. The columns had bases of a cubit square. Two columns and the “breadth of the gate,” which we are told was three cubits, made up the “five cubits” on either side of the central entrance. This central entrance, like the entrance into the temple itself, was ten cubits. Thus, we have twenty cubits for the porch-front (Ezekiel 40:49).

The porch of Solomon’s Temple was twenty cubits broad and ten deep (1 Kings 6:3). This corresponds nearly with the dimensions of Ezekiel’s porch; the difference in the breadth may be explained by supposing a space of one cubit in front of the porch . The fact that this porch was approached by stairs of probably ten steps makes this more probable, as a small space in front of the porch would naturally be required.

Pillars by the posts—literally, to “the posts,” meaning that upon the bases (posts) stood shafts (pillars). These shafts were probably in the form of palm-trees (Ezekiel 40:16). The porch with its steps must have jutted into the inner court.