Midrash su Ezechiele 41:7

“Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,” just as the nose is located at the highest part of a person, so the Temple is located at the highest part of the world. Just as the nose has much jewelry suspended from it,³⁴Although people generally do not suspend much jewelry from their nose, it was customary to include one’s most beautiful jewel in a nose ring (Yefei Kol). Alternatively, the term nose [af] in this instance includes the area up to the forehead, from which people would suspend various types of chains and jewelry (Matnot Kehuna). so do priesthood, Levitical status, and kingship descend from Jacob. “Like the tower of Lebanon,”³⁵Many commentaries (see, e.g., Matnot Kehuna) assert that the text should read: “Like the tower of Lebanon,” this is the Temple, as it is stated… as it is stated: “This good mountain and the Lebanon” (Deuteronomy 3:25). Rabbi Tavyomi said: Because it whitens [malbin] the iniquities of Israel like snow, as it is stated: “If your sins will be like scarlet they will become white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Because all the hearts [levavot] rejoice there, as it is stated: “Beautiful in its view, joy of all the land” (Psalms 48:3). The Rabbis say: [It is so called] because of [what is stated]: “My eyes and My heart [libi] will be there for all days” (I Kings 9:3).
“Overlooking Damascus,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Jerusalem is destined to reach until the gates of Damascus, as it is stated: “A prophecy, the word of the Lord: Ḥadrakh [and Damascus]” (Zechariah 9:1). What is Ḥadrakh? Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥamya, Rabbi Yehuda said: There is a place that is called Ḥadrakh. Rabbi Yosei ben Durmaskit said to him: By the Temple service, I am from Damascus and there is a place there named Ḥadrakh. Rabbi Neḥemya said: This is the messianic king who is sharp [ḥad] and gentle [rakh]; sharp to the nations and gentle to Israel.
Another matter, Ḥadrakh, this is the messianic king who is destined to guide [lehadrikh] all mankind in repentance before the Holy One blessed be He. “Damascus is His resting place” (Zechariah 9:1). Is Damascus His resting place? But is His resting place not the Temple, as it is stated: “This is My resting place forever” (Psalms 132:14)? He said to him: Jerusalem is destined to expand on all its sides until it reaches the gates of Damascus, and all the exiles will come and rest under its auspices, to realize what is stated: “Damascus is His resting place,” His resting place will reach Damascus.
How does Rabbi Yoḥanan realize: “The city will be rebuilt on its mound” (Jeremiah 30:18)?³⁶This verse implies that it will be rebuilt upon its original location, but will not expand significantly beyond its original location. Like a fig tree that is narrow below and wide above, so Jerusalem is destined to expand on all its sides, and all the exiles will come and rest under its auspices, to realize what is stated: “For you will spread right and left” (Isaiah 54:3). This is lengthwise; from where is it derived [that it will expand] widthwise? The verse states: “From the Tower of Ḥananel to the winepresses of the king” (Zechariah 14:10). Rabbi Zakkai the Great said: Until the pits of Rifa,³⁷Some assert that the correct reading is “the pits of Jaffa” (see Etz Yosef). In any event, the reference is to a location on the Mediterranean coastline in the land of Israel. until the winepresses that the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, dug out;³⁸This is a reference to the oceans. that is lengthwise and widthwise. From where is upward [that it will expand] derived? The verse states: “The side-chambers widened and wound about higher and higher” (Ezekiel 41:7). It is taught: Jerusalem is destined to expand and ascend and reach the Throne of Glory, until you will say: “The place is crowded for me” (Isaiah 49:20).³⁹Even when Jerusalem expands so greatly in all directions, it will still be crowded due to all the exiles who will return there. Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Yirmeya said: We have still not learned the praise of Jerusalem. From where do you learn its praise? From its walls, as it is stated: “I will be for it, the utterance of the Lord, a wall of fire all around” (Zechariah 2:9).

Another interpretation (of Cant. 3:11): ON HIS WEDDING DAY, on Sinai.³⁶Cf. Cant. R. 5:11:2; PRK 26:9. (Ibid., cont.:) ON THE DAY OF HIS JOYFUL HEART, in Jerusalem. David said (in Ps. 48:3 [2]): BEAUTEOUS LANDSCAPE, THE JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH, <EVEN MOUNT ZION>….³⁷See Cant. R. 7:5:3. <It is> like a fig in that it is narrow below and wide above, like what is stated (in Ezek. 41:7): AND IT BECAME WIDER AS IT WOUND ABOUT HIGHER AND HIGHER….

(Lev. 8:3:) “And assemble the whole congregation.” He said to him, “Where?”³⁰See Lev. R. 10:9; cf. Gen. R. 5:7. He said unto him, “Unto the door of the tent of meeting.” Moses our master said to him, “Master of the world, [there are] sixty myriads of adults and sixty myriads of young people. How will I have them stand at the opening of the tent of meeting? [The area is] only the size of a field requiring of two seah of seed; yet you are saying (in Lev. 8:3:), ‘And assemble the whole congregation?’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Are you surprised about this thing? Are the heavens not like a cataract on the eye? And [yet] I made them [to stretch] from one end of the world to the other, as stated (in Is. 40:22), “Who has stretched out the heavens like a curtain [and spread them out like a tent to dwell in].’ And also in the world to come I will do likewise for Zion. How will all those populations³¹Gk.: ochloi. from the first Adam until the dead rise [have room to] stand? Then they are going to say (in Is. 49:20), ‘The place is too crowded for me; make room for me to dwell.’ What shall I do for them? I shall enlarge it, as stated (in Is. 54:2), ‘Enlarge the site of your tabernacle.’” From where do you learn [so]? From Mount Sinai. When the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared upon it, it immediately expanded, as stated (in Ps. 68:18), “The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; [the Lord is among them on Sinai].” R. Avdimi of Haifa said, “I have learned in my mishnah: When the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared on Mount Sinai to give the Torah, twenty-two thousand chariots came down with him.³²PRK 12:22; PR 21:7; Exod. R. 29:2. R. Berekhyah the Priest said, “[It was] since the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that none would remain in their faith except the tribe of Levi. He therefore came down [with a number] corresponding to the camp of the Levites (according to Numb. 22:39).” R. Jannay said to him, “If so, it must be written about the tribe of Levi, ‘The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousand.’ What is [then] the meaning of, ‘The chariots (rt.: rkb) of God are myriads?’ It is simply that twenty-two thousand chariots came down with the Holy One, blessed be He, with each and every chariot like the chariot which Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 1:19–21). And [yet] it (i.e., Mt. Sinai) contained them? Indeed the event was a miracle. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Become wider (rt.: rhb) and longer to receive My children, [who are] faithful children.” And so you find in the world to come, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will widen (rt.: rhb) Jerusalem, as stated (in Ezek. 41:7), “And it became wider (rt.: rhb) as it wound about higher (lm'lh),” until it was rising to the heavens.³³See PRK 20:7. On the enlargement of Jerusalem in the age to come, cf. BB 75b. Now, “higher (m'lh)” can only mean heaven (shmym). Thus it is stated [(in Ps. 108:5), “For Your kindness is great, above (m'l) [heaven (shmym)”].³⁴Note that the Mss. reading (in the braces) adds an extra H to the Masoretic Text. Thus the H appears at the end of M‘L to make M‘LH. When it (i.e., Jerusalem) reaches the heavens, it says (in Is. 49:20), “The place is too crowded for me.” Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings clouds and raises it up from the heavens to the firmament, [from the second (heaven) to the third, from the third to the fourth, from the fourth to the fifth, from the fifth to the sixth, and from the sixth to the seventh.] R. Eliezer ben Jacob said, “[The elevation of Jerusalem continues] until it reaches the throne of glory. But how are they (the Israelites) to ascend? By the time the higher one goes up, the lower one [needs to] eat and drink and sleep. So what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He will bring clouds and will have them fly, as stated (in Is. 60:8), ‘Who are these that fly like a cloud?’” Then each and every one of the righteous will have a canopy (huppah) for himself. Thus it is stated (in Is. 4:5), “for over [all] the glory there shall be a canopy (huppah).” When it reaches the throne of glory, the Holy One, blessed be He, shall say to them, “I and you shall walk through the world [together], as stated (in Lev. 26:12), “And I will walk among you.” The Holy One, blessed be He, will dwell in the middle and the righteous shall point to Him with their finger. It is so stated (in Is. 25:9), “In that day they shall say, ‘See, this is our God; we waited for Him, and He delivered us […].’” It also says (in Ps. 48:15), “For this is God, our God, for ever and ever; He will lead evermore.” Because the nations say (in Deut. 32:37), “And He will say, ‘Where are their gods’”; Israel shall therefore say in the future (in Ps. 48:15), “For this is God, our God, for ever and ever; He will lead evermore.”