The temple. הַהֵיכָל frequently applied to the whole building (2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chronicles 3:17; Jeremiah 1:1-19:28; Haggai 2:15; Zechariah 6:14, Zechariah 6:15), is here used of the nave of the temple, the holy place, as distinguished from the holy of holies.
Schroder alone of commentators holds by the extended meaning. The measuring began from the east wall of the holy place. The posts ( אֵילִים), as in Ezekiel 40:9, the corner pillars on each side of the entrance, measured six cubits broad, whereas those of the porch measured only five (Ezekiel 40:48).
The phrase, The breadth of the tabernacle; or, the tent ( הָאהֶל), has occasioned difficulty. Hitzig, Ewald, and Smend propose to substitute for הַאֹהָל the word הָאָיִל ("post"), which might in itself be unobjectionable, only no such device is required to render the clause intelligible.
It is sufficient to understand the phrase as signifying that the measurements noted had a special relation to the entire breadth of the temple, here styled "tabernacle," or "tent," to indicate the covered portion of the edifice, which, in this respect, and in respect of its being the place of meeting between Jehovah and Israel, resembled the ancient sanctuary of the wilderness.