Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 11:1

"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." — Revelation 11:1 (ASV)

And there was ... — This should be translated as: And there was given to me a reed like a rod (we must omit the words “and the angel stood”), saying. It is not said by whom the reed was given, nor are we told who speaks the command. The whole transaction is impersonal. The reed, like a measuring rod, is given to him, and at the same time the command is given to arise and measure the Temple, the altar, and those who worship in the Temple.

Here, again, we find the basis of the vision in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was brought, in a vision, to a high mountain and saw a man with a line of flax (for measuring long distances) and a measuring line (for shorter distances). But, more probably, the vision of Zechariah was in the seer’s mind (Zechariah 2:1–2), because the vision there of the man with the measuring rod to measure Jerusalem is followed, in the fourth chapter (Zechariah 4:1–6), by the vision of the two olive trees, which are distinctly identified with the two witnesses in the present chapter .

The Temple, altar, and worshippers are to be measured. The measuring implies protecting, or is a token of a resolve to protect, a portion of the sacred enclosure from desecration. The measuring, like the sealing of Revelation 7, is a sign of preservation during impending dangers. To understand what is thus measured out for protection, we must remember that there are two Greek words that are rendered as Temple: one (hieron) signifies “the whole compass of the sacred enclosure, including the outer courts, porches, porticoes, and other buildings subordinated to the Temple itself;” the other (naos) is the Temple itself, the house of God, the Holy and Holy of Holies.

When it is said that Christ taught the people in the Temple, the first of these words is used; and it may be supposed that our Lord carried on His teaching in one of the porches or courts of the sanctuary. But when Zacharias is described as going into the Temple, the word is the second (naos), for he went into the Temple proper and left the people in the outer court, or the court where the brazen altar stood. It is the second of these words which is used here: the Temple proper, the naos, the house of God, is measured, together with the altar.

We are not told which altar is intended. It is at least too hasty to say that it must be the altar of incense, as this alone was in the Temple proper; for the explicit direction to measure the altar sounds like an extension of the measured area and may perhaps mean that some portion of the court reserved for Israel is to be included in the measurement.

The next verse, however, seems to imply that every spot outside the Temple proper was given up to the Gentiles and was not to be measured. It is perhaps wisest, therefore, not to settle this too definitely.

The gist of the measurement is the preservation of the true, invisible Church, the Church within the Church; and everything necessary to worship—Temple, altar, worshippers—all are reserved.

There will always be the real and the conventional—the true and the formal Christian; always those who profess and call themselves Christians, and those who hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. These last are the called and chosen and faithful (Revelation 17:14), the sealed who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and therefore find their safe lodging in the night of danger under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1; compare also to the whole Psalm, and especially to Revelation 11:4-5 and Revelation 11:9-13).