The passageway in the eastern gate complex led into a courtyard. This was the outer court that contained an inner court within it. Around the perimeter of this outer court were30 rooms. It is not clear if they were on three sides of the courtyard or four, and it is not clear what function they served. Perhaps they were meeting or storage rooms. A pavement, probably mosaic (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:3; Esther 1:6), known as the lower pavement, formed a50-cubit-wide (83feet4inch) border around the outer edge of the outer courtyard (cf. Ezekiel 40:15). Ezekiel"s guide measured the outer courtyard between the outer and inner gates, and this space was100 cubits wide (about166 feet8 inches) on the east and north sides (and evidently on the south side too). [source][source][source]