Revelation 11:1

"And" (Gr. kai) ties this chapter closely to the previous one. John’s first prophetic assignment after receiving his fresh commission was to provide this information.

Again John became an active participant in his vision (cf. Revelation 1:12; Revelation 5:4; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 10:8-10; Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:8). John’s "measuring rod" was probably a lightweight reed (cf. Ezekiel 29:6; Ezekiel 40:5; Ezekiel 42:16-19; Mark 6:8; 3 John 1:13). The person giving the reed and the instructions was probably the strong angel just referred to (Revelation 10:9-11). John received instruction to perform a symbolic act, as many of his prophetic forerunners had done (cf. Isaiah 20:2-5; Ezekiel 12:1-17; Ezekiel 40; Zechariah 2). The act of measuring probably signifies that the temple is God’s possession and that He approves of it. One carefully measures what is his personal property (cf. 2 Samuel 8:2; Ezekiel 40:3 to Ezekiel 42:20). Sometimes measuring in Scripture anticipated judgment (2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 28:17; Lamentations 2:8; Amos 7:7-9). A few references to measuring involve protection (Jeremiah 31:39; Ezekiel 40:2 to Ezekiel 43:12; Zechariah 1:16; Zechariah 2:1-8), but this can hardly be the connotation here in view of the context (Revelation 11:2). However, since John received instruction not to measure profane areas (Revelation 11:2), this measuring is probably an indication of God’s favor and approval.

"In other words, John’s future prophecies will distinguish between God’s favor toward the sanctuary, the altar, and their worshipers and His disapproval of all that is of Gentile orientation because of their profanation of the holy city for half of the future seventieth week. . . . So the measuring is an object lesson of how entities favored by God will fare during the period of Gentile oppression that lies ahead." [Note: Ibid., pp. 80-81.]

The "temple" (Gr. naos, inner temple) refers to both the holy place and the holy of holies, excluding the courtyards. This is evidently the temple that the Jews will build in Jerusalem before or during the first half (three and a half years) of Daniel’s seventieth week (i.e., the Tribulation; cf. Revelation 11:8; Revelation 13:14-15; Daniel 9:26-27; Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:15-16; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). [Note: See John F. Walvoord, "Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem?" Bibliotheca Sacra 125:498 (April-June 1968):99-106; Thomas S. McCall, "How Soon the Tribulation Temple?" Bibliotheca Sacra 128:512 (October-December 1971):341-51; and idem, "Problems in Rebuilding the Tribulation Temple," Bibliotheca Sacra 129:513 (January-March 1972):75-80. See also Martin Levin, "Time for a New Temple?" Time, 16 October 1989, pp. 64-65. For refutation of the preterist view that this is the Second Temple, which Titus destroyed in A.D. 70, see Mark L. Hitchcock, "A Critique of the Preterist View of the Temple in Revelation 11:1-2," Bibliotheca Sacra 164:654 (April-June 2007):219-36.] The "altar" probably refers to the brazen altar of sacrifice outside the sanctuary to which non-priests will have access. John was to measure (in the sense of quantifying) the worshippers too. This probably means that God will know or perhaps preserve them. These worshipers evidently represent godly Jews who will worship God in this Tribulation temple (cf. Ezekiel 14:22; Romans 11:4-5; Romans 11:26).

When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming He will build a new millennial temple that will replace this Tribulation temple (Ezekiel 40).

Some interpreters who favor a more symbolic understanding of this verse take the temple as a reference to the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21; 1 Peter 2:5). [Note: E.g., Johnson, pp. 499-502; Mounce, p. 221; and Swete, p. 132.]

"The church will be protected in the coming disaster." [Note: Morris, p. 147.]

However if the temple is the church, who are the worshipers, what is the altar, and why are the Gentiles segregated from it?