As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east: While Ezekiel watched, the awesome, impressive presence of God came into the Temple building itself. The Hebrew word for temple (literally “house”) refers to the main building of the Temple, so the focus of this verse is on God entering the inner sanctuary, not just the Temple compound. As already mentioned in verse 2, God was coming from the east, so he came in by the gate facing east, that is, through the inner east gateway, where Ezekiel was (see Ezek 43.1).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .