Why does Ezekiel 42:20 refer to a profane place in the temple?
Before answering your good question, I would like to give some background to this verse. Please keep in mind as you read the background that God has always desired close relationships with the people who He created. God continues to desire close fellowship with people today.
After the Lord delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt in approximately B.C. 1491, the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. In addition to giving Moses the Ten Commandments, the Lord made some promises to Moses. The Lord said in Leviticus 26:11-12, “And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” In Exodus 35-40, the tabernacle is described and set up. When it was finished, we read in Exodus 40:34, “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, the Levites took down and set up the tabernacle at each location where they stopped. How blessed they were to have the Lord with them!
In approximately B.C. 1042, King David desired to build a temple in which the Lord could dwell (2 Samuel 7). Since David had been a man of war, the Lord did not want David to build the temple (1 Chronicles 28:3). However, the Lord enabled David to prepare the materials for building a temple so that his son Solomon could build it. The description of the temple that King Solomon built is found in 1 Kings 6. King Solomon finished building the temple in approximately B.C. 1005. We read in 1 Kings 6:11-13, “And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.” Oh, what a blessing!
Due to the sin of the Israelites described in Ezekiel 8 and 11, the glory of the Lord departed from Solomon’s temple in approximately B.C. 594. We read in Ezekiel 11:22-23, “Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.”
Ezekiel prophesied in the land of the Chaldeans due to the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. In spite of the captivity, the Lord had encouraging words for Ezekiel. We read in Ezekiel 11:16-20, “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” This will come true in a future day when Christ comes to reign over the earth.
The Lord gave further encouragement to Ezekiel by revealing to him about a future temple that will exist in Jerusalem. The next thing that will occur is the Rapture when all believers will be caught up to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). After the Rapture will be seven years of Tribulation on this earth. After the Tribulation will be Christ’s 1,000-year reign on the earth, often called the Millenium.
The description of this temple is found in Ezekiel 40-43. There will be walls around the outer court of the temple and the temple itself. The dimensions of the walls are found in Ezekiel 42:15-20. Verse 20 states, “He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.” The wall separated the sanctuary from the profane place, which was outside the sanctuary. The profane place was not in the temple. It was outside the wall. According to verse 20, the sanctuary included everything inside the wall. Inside the wall was the outer court, inner court, and the temple itself. Inside the temple were the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary.
The reason for this separation is because God is holy (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). God earnestly desires fellowship with mankind, but He requires holiness. He will require it in the future millennium, and He requires it now as well. All of us are sinners (Romans 3:23), but Christ died on the cross to cleanse us from our sins (1 John 1:7). Repentance and faith in Christ’s finished work gives us eternal life (Acts 20:21, John 3:16). Then, and only then, are we fit for God’s presence. God says to us in Hebrews 10:19-25, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (DJ) (618.4)