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. 1:12; 5:4; 7:14; 10:8-10; 19:10; 22:8). John's "measuring rod"was probably a lightweight reed (cf. Ezek. 29:6; 40:5; 42:16-19; Mark 6:8; 3 John 13). The person giving the reed and the instructions was probably the strong angel (10:9-11). John received instruction to perform a symbolic act, as many of his prophetic forerunners had done (cf. Isa. 20:2-5; Ezek. 12:1-17; 40; Zech. 2). The act of measuring probably signifies that the temple is God's possession. One carefully measures what is his own property (cf. 2 Sam. 8:2; Ezek. 40:3-42:20). Sometimes measuring in Scripture anticipated judgment (2 Sam. 8:2; 2 Kings 21:13; Isa. 28:17; Lam. 2:8; Amos 7:709).353However, since John received instruction not to measure profane areas (v. 2), this measuring is probably an indication of God's favor.
"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"354
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. v. 8; 13:14-15; Dan. 9:26-27; 12:11; Matt. 24:15-16; 2 Thess. 2:4).355The "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. Ezek. 14:22; Rom. 11:4-5, 26).
When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming He will build a new millennial temple that will replace this Tribulation temple (Ezek. 40).
Some interpreters who favor a more symbolic understanding of this verse take the temple as a reference to the church (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:5).356
"The church will be protected in the coming disaster."357
However if the temple is the church, who are the worshipers, what is the altar, and why are the Gentiles segregated from it? Such an interpretation mixes the literal and the figurative hopelessly.
11:2 "Leave out"(Gr. ekballo, lit. cast out) implies removal from divine favor (cf. Matt. 22:13; 25:30; 3 John 10). The court outside the temple corresponds to the court to which Gentiles had access in the first century, which lay outside the court into which only Jews could come. The Tribulation temple will evidently have similar courtyards. Not measuring amounts to exclusion from God's favor as measuring amounts to enjoying His favor (v. 1). The nations are the Gentiles, specifically hostile, unbelieving Gentiles (cf. v. 18; 14:8; 19:15; 20:3). These Gentiles will oppress the holy city, which is earthly Jerusalem (cf. v. 8; 21:22; Luke 21:24).358The 42 months are the last half of the Tribulation since this will be the time when Gentile hostility to the Jews is intense (cf. Dan. 9:27). The Gentiles will dominate the outer court of the temple and the rest of Jerusalem for 42 months. Anti-Semitism will peak after the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel in the middle of Daniel's seventieth week (Dan. 9:27). This interpretation seems more likely than that 42 months refers to the 42 encampments of Israel in the wilderness, or that they represents a period "of measurable duration."359
