3,853. The Height and Length of the Temple

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 4:3

The Heichal that was built by the returning exiles was 100 cubits long, 100 cubits wide and 100 cubits tall. (100 cubits is in the vicinity of 150’.) The height was as follows: there was a solid base six cubits tall serving as its foundation; the height of the Temple walls was 40 cubits; the decorative ceiling was one cubit. Above this there were two empty cubits called the beis dilpa, where dripping water was collected. The ceiling over the beis dilpa was a cubit and the plaster was a cubit. A 40-cubit tall loft was built over this; its roof had a decorative ceiling of one cubit, a beis dilpa of two cubits, a ceiling of one cubit, a cubit of plaster and a three-cubit parapet. A swordlike iron plate a cubit tall ran all around the parapet to keep the birds off of it; this was called “the raven consumer” (kaleh oreiv). All these put together comes to 100 cubits.

Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 4:4

From west to east was 100 cubits, as follows: There were four walls inside one another with three empty spaces between them. Between the westernmost wall and the wall inside of it there was a space of five cubits; between that wall and the next there was six cubits; between the third and fourth walls there was six cubits. These numbers include the width of the wall itself and the cavity between it and the next wall. The Holy of Holies was 20 cubits long. There was one cubit between the two curtains that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy. The Holy was 40 cubits long. The eastern wall, where the entrance was, was six cubits. The entry hall was eleven cubits long and its wall was five cubits thick. Altogether, this comes to 100 cubits.