Chapters 47 and 48 give us a picture of the millennial land. In chapter 47 we have the prophecy that the land will be refreshed by the healing waters of the river coming from the altar of God. All of God's blessings begin with the altar. This must be a literal river. The life-giving stream is shown in verses 1-12. This is one of Ezekiel's grandest passages. Joel and Zechariah spoke of this stream. It seems to be a picture of heaven's river of water of life (Revelation 22:1,2).
Whatever specific or literal application these waters may have, certainly, without any straining whatsoever, they can, in a general way, be taken as a beautiful picture of the influence of Christ coming out of Jerusalem and flowing forth in an ever-widening, ever-deepening stream, to the whole world.
In chapters 47:13--48:29 we are given the boundaries of the land and the location of the tribes. The land was not quite as large as the domain of David. Roughly, it was the south half of the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, about 400 miles north and south, averaging about 100 miles east and west. The arrangements of the tribes were somewhat different from the time they were originally arranged.
The city mentioned in chapter 48:30-35 is seven and one-half miles square, and is somewhat similar in pattern after the New Jerusalem. Ezekiel sees the city as it will exist in the coming age, while the Apostle John, in the Revelation, has in view the eternal state of the city. The name of the city shall be Jehovah- Shammah, which means, "The Lord is there," or "Home of God.".
