What does Ezekiel 40-42 really mean?

¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.
² In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south.
³ When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand, and he was standing in the gateway.
⁴ And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”
⁵ And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.
⁶ Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.
⁷ And there was a vestibule in front of the guard rooms, on the inside, and it was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.
⁸ He measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end.
⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end.
¹⁰ And he measured the breadth of the entrance of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.
¹¹ And he measured the breadth of the entrance of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.
¹² There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side.
¹³ And he measured the gate from the roof of the one guardroom to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other.
¹⁴ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end.
¹⁵ From the front of the entrance at the gate to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.
¹⁶ And there were narrow windows to the sills and to the jambs of the side chambers, the latter and the former chambers were on three stories.
¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement.
¹⁸ And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.
¹⁹ Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court outside, a hundred cubits on the east and on the north.
²⁰ As for the gate of the outer court that faced the north, he measured its length and its breadth.
²¹ Then he brought me into the outer court and measured the corner gateposts; they were of the same size on both sides.
²² And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps people would go up to it, and find its vestibule before them.
²³ And the nave and the sanctuary each had a double door.
²⁴ And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And he measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size.
²⁵ And there were windows all around, narrowing inwards until they reached the side walls of the gate, and also for the side chambers.
²⁶ And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side.
²⁷ And there was a gateway to the inner court on the south side; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.
²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it was of the same size as the others.
²⁹ And its side chambers, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and the gate and its vestibule had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
³⁰ And there were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad.
³¹ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
³² Then he led me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway.
³³ And its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
³⁴ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
³⁵ And he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same dimensions as the others,
³⁶ its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
³⁷ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
³⁸ There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed.
³⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the entrance, 14 feet; and the sidewalls of the entrance were 3½ feet on either side.
⁴⁰ And there was a gateway in the inner court.
⁴¹ Four tables of hewn stone were there, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered.
⁴² And the four tables for the burnt offering were of hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. On them were to be placed the instruments with which the burnt offerings and sacrifices were slaughtered.
⁴³ And there were hooks, a handbreadth long, fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
⁴⁴ And on the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south gate facing north.
⁴⁵ And he said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,
⁴⁶ And the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him.
⁴⁷ And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple.
⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate were three cubits on either side.
⁴⁹ The length of the nave was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
¹ Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. They were six cubits wide on either side.
² Then he went to the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
³ Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.
⁴ And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits. And the breadth of the room, across the nave, the twenty cubits.
⁵ And he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple.
⁶ And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in each story.
⁷ And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers, for the winding about of the house went still upward all around the house. Therefore the house was higher as it went upward, and thus one would go up from the lowest chamber to the highest by way of the middle chamber.
⁸ I saw also that the house had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits.
⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side.
¹⁰ Then he measured the room that was behind the nave and the nave, a hundred cubits.
¹¹ And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was set apart, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the width of the place that was set apart was five cubits all around.
¹² The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.
¹³ Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long;
¹⁴ Also he made for the entrance to the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood
¹⁵ And he measured the length of the building facing the yard at the back and its galleries on either side, a hundred cubits. The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court,
¹⁶ the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered),
¹⁷ to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.
¹⁸ And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces,
¹⁹ a human face toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. It was carved on all the temple all around.
²⁰ The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling
²¹ The posts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling
²² The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length was two cubits. Its corners, its base, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”
²³ The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door.
²⁴ And the doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling a nave.
²⁵ And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls.
²⁶ And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.
¹ Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north.
² The length of the outer court was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits. There were the chambers and a wall for the court all around.
³ Over against the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.
⁴ Before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long, and the doors were on the north.
⁵ Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building.
⁶ For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.
⁷ And the wall that was outside, parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court on the front of the chambers, its length was fifty cubits.
⁸ For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits, while those to the front of the nave were a hundred cubits.
⁹ And below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.
¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers
¹¹ And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers that were on the north, as long as they, and as broad as they, and all their exits were alike and doors were alike.
¹² In the building that was in front of the separate yard at the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.
¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy.
¹⁴ When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people.”
¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around.
¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around.
¹⁷ In the outer court, and opposite the chambers, was the inner court; and on the opposite of the chambers was the pavement all around.
¹⁸ He measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple.
¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured, five hundred cubits, and measured it on the south side, five hundred cubits, and measured it on the east side, five hundred cubits.
²⁰ He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, 500 cubits long and 500 cubits broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common.