“There was a gate to the Inner Courtyard opposite the gate from the north.… He measured one hundred cubits from one gate to another.”¹ 40:23. From this, it can be derived that the width of the Women’s Courtyard from the north to the south in front of the eastern wall of the Inner Courtyard was 312 cubits. The Women’s Courtyard was further extended, surrounding the building of the Beis HaMikdash on all sides. There were 312 cubits from its northern wall to its southern wall. To explain how that number is reached: a) there were 100 cubits from the northern wall of the Outer Courtyard to the northern wall of the Inner Courtyard; b) there were 100 cubits from the southern wall of the Outer Courtyard to the southern wall of the Inner Courtyard; c) the area comprising the open space of the Inner Courtyard measured 100 cubits; d) the two walls separating the Inner Courtyard on the north and the south were each 6 cubits wide, totaling 312 cubits. At the beginning of this composition,² I promised to explain this.

footnotes: ¹ Yechezkel ² See sec. 1.