Bible Dictionary
REED, MEASURING
The measuring reed was a rod used to determine the dimensions of Ezekiel’s visionary temple and, later, the temple and holy city in Revelation. It represents precise measurement and ordered perfection.
Definition
A measuring reed was a rod used to determine the dimensions of a building or city. Ezekiel’s reed measured six cubits, with each cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.
Biblical Usage
An angelic man used a measuring reed in Ezekiel’s vision of the temple. Revelation applies the same imagery to the temple and the holy city, including a golden reed, conveying exactness and ordered perfection.
Historical Background
The measuring cubit in Ezekiel’s vision was longer than the common cubit by a handbreadth. The imagery is associated with the symmetry and perfection of God’s church.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>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 (Eze 40:3 ff; 42:16). 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). In the Apocalypse this idea of a measuring reed reappears for measuring the temple (Re 11:1) and the holy city (Re 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.</p><p>James Orr</p>