By Angus Harley

Revelation 11:1, 2 refer to a temple that John himself measures, along with its altar. Where is this temple (naos)? For the vast majority of interpreters, including Amillennial, the temple of Rev.11:1-2 is on earth. I argue in this article that it is in heaven.

Before proceeding on, I have to put restraints on this argument. I could be here forever and a day writing about Rev.11 and its many tributaries; I could spend hours on the identity of the two witnesses, or the other components of the chapter. As fascinating as these things are, my sole and only purpose is to identify the temple in Rev.11:1-2 as belonging to heaven. Everything is shaped to complete that goal. My specific aim is to encourage the Amillennial-idealist reading, not to counter Postmill, Premill, etc.. I want my Amill friends to rethink their reading of the placement of the temple in Rev.11., and to encourage those Amillers who already accept that the temple is in heaven.

The text of Revelation 11

Foundational to understanding the placement of the temple of Revelation 11:1-2 is the text of Revelation 11 itself, which we must always keep before us:

“1 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. 2 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. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

“We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”

Two Perspectives

There is a division in Rev.11, vv1-14 and vv15-19, that relates two distinct perspectives- one earthly, the other heavenly. 

Warfare and earth (vv1-14)

Vv1-14 examine the fates of the saints of God from the perspective of war on earth with the nations. In the first place, there is the heavenly temple that is measured by God, that incorporates both the altar and God’s people. The assumption is that these people have completed their warfare and are now at holy rest in heaven’s temple. By contrast, the two witnesses (which are the assembly of Christ, see ahead) engage in spiritual combat on earth, until they are eventually murdered by the beast and left lying on the street. It is only then that God calls both witnesses up into heaven into his protection, resurrecting them. Upon their entrance into heaven, a devastating judgment comes from heaven against the nations on earth.

Judgment and heaven (vv15-19)

Vv15-19 present a different perspective, not that belonging to the two witnesses or to spiritual combat, but to the victory of the God of heaven and his Christ over the nations on earth. The nations had had their moment, killed the two witnesses, and in doing so were judged by God. From heaven’s perspective, we read about how God and his Christ issue the final judgment upon the nations, and also how God is about to reward those saints who served him on earth, but were now with him in heaven. It is then that we read in v19 that “temple of God in heaven” opens up to reveal the “ark” and lightning, thunder, earthquake, and hailstorm, indicating God’s judgment upon the nations.

Foreground, background

It is not a case, therefore, of vv1-14 being merely about the earth, nor of vv15-19 relating to only heaven. In vv1-14, the foreground is earth, and heaven (the temple) the background; in vv15-19, heaven and the temple is the foreground and earth the background.

Moving on, we will make some exegetical observations that will guide our overall assessment.

The heavenly aspect expanded

No building project!

We can dismiss any notion, from the outset, that the temple of vv1-2, or in v19, will be built in the future. The temple is presented as existing, without any reference to any past. The future tense, e.g., “will”, is said in regard to actions performed by characters and persons (the witnesses, the beast, the nations, God) engaging in spiritual warfare.

John arises to heaven?

John is told to “rise up” (egeiro) (v1). Why? Was he sitting, as some suggest? Sleeping? Is this a mere rhetorical device to indicate John is to get moving? All of these are possible. Do they suit the context? is the question. It does not give the impression that John was sitting or sleeping. Certainly, he is being prompted into action. This would not negate that there is a specific form to his action, namely, rising from earth to heaven. Contextually, the last reference to John was that he was commanded to take the book from the hand of the angel who stood on the sea and the land. For that to happen, John would need to be on earth (10:8-11; for more on John’s perspective, see 10:1). In the next verses (11:1-2), he is told to arise and measure the temple. It is reasonable to think this suggest that John arises in the sense of goes up into the heavenly temple itself, from earth.

John the surveyor

It is John who measures the temple, the altar, and the people (the three), not a prophet or an angel. This is important, for it is telling us that John’s apostolic witness and ‘measurement’ of these things is crucial to understanding them. Is this part of John’s previous commission to prophesy about nations and kings (10:11)? Does this figurative measuring have prophetic quality? By measuring them, is John not gaining knowledge of them to convey to us? Think of Ezekiel 40-48 and how Ezekiel conveys a prophetic message through measurement of the eschatological temple. John is not Ezekiel, Zechariah, or Daniel, nor any other prophet of the OT, or the NT, for that matter. It was, to repeat, to him that the measuring stick was given to measure heaven itself. He did that as God’s appointed apostle to the assemblies on earth. Ezekiel and others wrote to a different people. John’s observations and his written revelation are to be understood in their own right, therefore, and must not be controlled by the OT and its prophets. Daniel 7 and 9, Zechariah, and Ezekiel 40-48 are not the control of John’s revelation and measurements of heaven. This fact is going to heavily influence our reading of Rev.11.

Purpose of measurement

What is meant by measurement in context? It cannot be a physical form of measuring, for the temple, altar, and people of the altar and temple are all measured as one. It is a symbolic measurement, and a symbolic reed. It is God’s divine provision and knowledge given to John to understand the spiritual nature and value of the temple, altar, and their people. This knowledge and value are ascertained, in great part, by contrasting these three things to their opposite on earth, including the two witnesses. On earth is the outside court, the holy city, the beast, and the wicked nations; moreover, the two witnesses engage in prophetic combat in that earthly setting. All of this is in contrast to God in heaven, his holy temple, his holy altar, and his people who have rested from their combat on earth. By measuring the temple, the altar, and the people, God’s people here on earth are reassured that there waits for them God’s sanctuary in the heavenly temple, and that God has raised from the dead all those who fought on his behalf, securing their eternal safety and security in the temple and by the altar (see ahead).

Aspects of this explanation are reflected in Rev.21 and the measurement of the city of God. The proportions of the city are square, and confirmed as such. Its square nature is symbolically reflective of its holy nature, such as exemplified in the holy of holies that was square, too. It is a city, outside of which is evil. Just as the temple of Rev.11:1-2 is contrasted to the outside court on earth, so the holy city that descends from heaven is contrasted to those who are evil outside the city. Similarly, there is Zechariah 1:16; 2:1-2 that refer to the measurement of God’s holy city, representing Jerusalem as perfected by his glorious presence. Ezekiel 40-48 is the eschatological temple of God that is perfect entirely in its measurements, and as with the city, the temple demonstrates the divine perfection that makes the temple itself glorious, holy, and impervious to sin and evil. 

One temple- the natural reading

John is told to measure the “temple of God” (naon tou theou) (v1). This is the same phrase used in v19, “the temple of God [naos tou theou] which is in heaven is opened”. Where is “the temple of God”? In heaven. The temple of vv1-2 is the heavenly temple from the perspective of those two witnesses at war on earth, and those former godly combatants who were subsequently, after their death, taken up into God’s temple. This includes the two witnesses themselves who are raised up and taken into heaven itself.

The earthly perspective expanded

The court is not part of the temple

First of, it must be noted that, the temple does not include the court, ” “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”” (11:2).  The text does not say, “Leave out the temple’s outer court.” In fact, the Greek text does not say “the outer court” but literally, “the court that is outside the temple, leave out” (ten aulen ten exothen tou naou ekbale exothen). John is using symbolic language. The language of the court “outside” is deliberately dividing between the two buildings and their placements: the court on earth is called “outside” because it does not belong to heaven and its temple. Moreover, it is the place of the evil nations waging war against God’s witnesses (see ahead). Thus, there is no ‘inner’ court, for John’s intention is not to replicate the other models of temple found in the OT; rather, it is the eschatological and heavenly temple he is concerned with, and it has its own layout. Just think of the apocalyptic and symbolic temple in Ezekiel 40ff. that is immensely different to any of the bricks-n-mortar temples of Israel’s history.

Evil domain: outside court, holy city, great city, and Egypt and Sodom

The nations are in this outside court. They also trample the holy city. It is hard to imagine that John meant anything other than the desecration of the outside court, too, by these nations. Due to the extreme likeness in language and events, it is possible that John is symbolically equating the outside court with the holy city itself, giving to angles to the same concept. We might have a form of parallelism, in other words:

“the court outside…has been given to the nations,

and, the holy city they will trample”

Later in 11:8, John calls the “holy city” the “great city”, which is “mystically” named “Sodom and Egypt”, and where the Lord died. This refers to the city of Jerusalem on earth. Sadly, all the nations of the world will gaze upon the bodies of the two witnesses that lie in the street in Jerusalem. The “holy city” has become the ‘killing fields’!

It is readily apparent, then, that all the references concerning places on earth are dark and negative:


outside court; holy city; great city; Sodom and Egypt.

Some objections answered

In objection to this, it will be said that John does use “holy city” of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev.21:2, 10; 22:19). Does this not imply, it will be said, that the temple is on earth? Isn’t Jerusalem named “holy city” because of the presence of the two witnesses who witness within the outside court and in Jerusalem? Moreover, the two witnesses “stand before the Lord of the earth”, intimating that the Lord is on earth.

There are cogent reasons for rejecting the above arguments.

  • Nowhere in Rev.11 is Jerusalem given a good rap: it was the place where Christ was murdered.
  • the “holy city” is functionally the equivalent of the outside court- the city and the court are trampled on by the evil nations.
  •  the “holy city” is subsequently and mystically called “Sodom and ‘Egypt”. These places are notorious in redemption history, the embodiment of evil and opposition to God and his witnesses.
  • The holy city of Rev.11 is on earth; that of Rev.21 descends from heaven. This earthly “holy city” of Jerusalem is probably a version of Babylon (see ahead). By contrast, the “new Jerusalem”, “the holy city” is heavenly (3:12; 21:2, 10).
  • The phrase “great city” is, most unfortunately, used of depraved “Babylon” in Rev.16:19; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21, giving the impression that the two great cities are but angles of the one demonically controlled world.
  • Thus, the earth is also considered in union with the “abyss”, which is but a way of referring to the demonically controlled nature of earth and its great cities.[1]
  • As to earthly Jerusalem being called the “holy city” and the religious reference to the “outside” court, they are deliberately employed by John to underscore that the religion of man on earth, even if associated with the things of God and his redemption in the past, are thoroughly contaminated and evil. Man on earth, the nations, are at war with God and his two witnesses. For another version of this same model, see Galatians 4:21-31 (see Heb.12:22) wherein the heavenly is contrasted to the earthly, Jerusalem below to Jerusalem above.
  • Also in Galatians 4:21-31, note how all the places on earth associated with the flesh and the Law are lumped together as conveying one anti-Spirit form of religion on earth. The same is happening here in Revelation 11:1-14.
  • See how John, in context, moves easily from the “nations” in the outside court, to the nations throughout the world, and to the nations in the holy city.
  • Yes, the two witnesses are on earth, and are “before the Lord of earth”. Does the Lord of earth stop being so when in heaven (vv11, 19)? Do the two witnesses stop “standing before the Lord of the earth” because he is in heaven and they on earth? The Lord is in heaven, yet he is the de facto Lord of earth. It is in that capacity as Lord of the earth that he gives to the two witnesses power and authority to fulfill their calling (6:10).
  • The court “outside” is not, therefore, an indication of God’s holy people on earth who are persecuted, any more than the “holy city” is God’s people; for if we say that the “holy city” is God’s people, then we must also name them “Sodom and Egypt”, as John does. Anyway, God’s people on earth are denominated as “the two witnesses”, and they patently go to war with the nations on earth. Heaven is the place of holiness; earth and its places are not.
  • The lampstands of Revelation 1:12-13 are identified by the glorified Christ as his assemblies (Rev.1:20). Subsequently, the same force is employed in 2:1, 5. The only other usage of luchnia (‘lampstands’) is here in Rev.11:4. As the two witnesses are called two lampstands in Rev.11, it follows that the two witnesses are two assemblies. These two assemblies are symbolically representative of God’s people, his assemblies, on earth that bear witness to the entire world, not just in one city (Jerusalem).
  • Thus, the kingdoms of the world, of this earth, are conquered and “become” the Lord’s and his Christ’s. They have to be wrested back, in other words, through spiritual combat and warfare. This was the role of the two witnesses empowered by God above. The people who do praise God are in heaven (v15), not on earth. Then we read of heaven’s temple opening up to bring that judgment and finality (v19).


Further perspectives on the temple and altar in Revelation

Temple

Elsewhere in Revelation, naos (‘temple’) is identified with the temple in heaven. Believers will be pillars in the heavenly temple, which is in the new Jerusalem (3:12; see 21:2, 10). Those who are clothed in white robes worship God before his throne, in his temple (7:15).  The temple of Rev.14:15, 17, out of which come God’s angels, is heavenly, too. It is the place of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven, also (Rev.15:6). Out of that tabernacle-temple in heaven come seven holy angels (Rev.15:6). This temple in heaven is filled with divine glory (Rev.15:8). Another angel is sent from the same temple (Rev.16:1), the place where the throne of God is (Rev.16:17). Only after the judgment of all men and the coming down of the new Jerusalem will there no longer be any temple (Rev.21:22).

Altar 

The altar that is measured is in heaven, too. The “altar” (thusiasterion) of God in Revelation is in heaven (6:9; 8:3, 5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7). The altar is the place of those who had been slain, but were now in the safety of heaven (6:9-11). The angels of heaven stood by the altar in heaven offering up the prayers of the saints, and pouring fire from the altar upon those on earth (8:3-5). So, we read of the “golden altar…before God” (9:13). An angel is then said to actually come from out of the altar (14:18), and from there he “swung his sickle to the earth” (14:19). Finally, the altar in heaven is identified with the inhabitants of heaven, “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments” ” (16:7).

[1] Angus Harley, “666 in Revelation 13:18,” All Things New Covenant, August 23, 2026, https://allthingsnewcovenant.com/2026/08/23/666-in-revelation-1318/.