The futurist method of interpreting Revelation 11:1-2 has spawned the false belief that a physical temple will be rebuilt in the New Jerusalem. The advocates of the new temple proclaim it will match the blueprint described by (Ezekiel 40-48).
Jesus Christ (God in the flesh) reveals Himself, along with the past, present, and future of His people and world, in visions that He commissioned His Apostle John to write down in a Book entitled Revelation. He presents the visions in 7 sections. In section 4, the seventh seal on His Book is broken by the only one qualified to do so (Jesus Christ), and the story flows through the Seven Trumpets (beginning in chapter 8 of Revelation). An angel brings a little scroll that will tell about the Seventh Trumpet (that heralds the last plagues and judgment) in chapter 10.
Revelation Chapter 11 describes the judgment on a corrupt world and the miraculous ministry and martyrdom of two witnesses who prophesy for 1,260 days in Jerusalem. The chapter focuses on the tribulation period, the destruction of the outer court of the Temple, and culminates with the seventh trumpet, which ushers in God’s everlasting reign.
The context of Chapter 11 focuses on Jerusalem, the holy city, where the Witnesses are prophesying and attempting to spiritually reach people.
John is instructed to measure three things:
1 the temple,
2 the altar,
3 and its worshipers.
But he is to leave the outer court to the Gentiles, who will trample Jerusalem for 42 months (or 1,260 days, which is three and a half years).
What the angel instructs John to measure signifies God’s ownership, protection, and the preservation of the faithful during a future period of severe persecution. The act of measuring conveys that God claims His true people as His own, distinguishing them from the “outer court” and the “holy city” which are left to the Gentiles for a specified time.
The spiritually protected Temple represents God’s holy people, who will remain safe during a time of national judgment, unlike the physical city of Jerusalem that will be trampled by the ungodly.
In Ezekiel 40:3, the prophet Ezekiel sees a vision of a person with a measuring reed in his hand. He is measuring the new temple of God, and Ezekiel is to prophesy about the coming glory of the new temple.
While the futurist promote a temple rebuilt in Jerusalem during the tribulation period, they overlook that what Ezekiel prophesied had found its fulfillment through Christ and joined to Him
– the household of God is “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure,” being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord (as Paul explained to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2:19-21).
This is one of the great interpretative failures of those who take a futurist method of interpretation to the book of Revelation. They see the images of the temple in Ezekiel 40-48 and Revelation 11 and declare that a physical temple will have to be rebuilt one day to fulfill these prophecies.
At the end of the book of Revelation, we will see the city called New Jerusalem, representing the people of God, being measured.
Christ is the cornerstone of this temple. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of the temple. We are being built into the holy temple of the Lord. We should not think that only a small group of Christians sees this temple as a spiritual temple to the Lord.
The absence of a physical temple fulfills the promises made in earlier scriptures, such as Ezekiel’s vision, by showing that God’s presence is no longer confined to a structure.
The entire New Jerusalem becomes the inner sanctuary, where God’s presence is experienced directly and fully by His people.
Consider:
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In conclusion, consider the Daily Bread email message sent on 10/06/2025 which says:
Revelation 11:1, 2 – Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. (NASB)
To receive the Daily Bread email messages, free on Mon., Wed., and Fri., in your email inbox, just fill in the form below or send an email, and ask to be added, to jmikeh@jmhowington.com
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