And on the west side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.
The old names vanish because old things are done away and all things become new. These measurements puzzle us by design: whether reeds or cubits, common or geometrical, we cannot pin them down. That very uncertainty teaches us these things are meant to be understood spiritually, not mapped out with earthly precision.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 48:31-35
The city's dimensions are given with exactness on all four sides, each 4,500 rods, for a total circuit of 18,000. The twelve gates bear the tribes' names in orderly fashion. But the name that matters is this: Jehovah is there. That is the city's true designation and its glory.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 48:30-35