Marko Jauhiainen, «The Measuring of the Sanctuary Reconsidered (Rev 11,1-2)», Vol. 83 (2002) 507-526
The act of measuring in Rev 11,1-2 does not portray the Church as spiritually protected but physically vulnerable, as normally thought. Not only are there lexical and interpretive difficulties with the traditional view, it is also not supported by the OT and extra-biblical evidence commonly adduced. Reading two kai/j differently and recognizing an allusion to Ezek 8:16 LXX addresses both the lexical and interpretive issues. The act of measuring is used to communicate the fact that contrary to Ezek 8–9, this time God will not abandon his earthly sanctuary, though idolatry among his people will still be judged.
attempt to determine the significance of the measuring in Rev 11. Two observations can be made: First, the act of measuring in all three passages seems to be a prophetic device whereby God provides the prophet with information about his plans for his people, in order to encourage the prophet (cf. Ezek 40,4)40. Or to put it in a different way: the act of measuring is a narrative device used by the author to communicate something to the audience. Second, we should underscore the major difference between Rev 11 and the other three passages: John is told not to measure something, and even explained why this is so. Granting that there is such a thing as a measuring motif, then this deviation from the normal pattern is a signal to the audience to pay special attention to the excluded item(s). We will return to this point later.
We may now summarize the relevance of the proposed OT background passages to the act of measuring in Rev 11. First, measuring in itself symbolizes neither destruction nor protection in any of the passages, though some of the vocabulary related to construction and building can with certain modifications be used metaphorically to connote judgment or destruction (2 Kgs 21,13; Isa 34,11; cf. Lam 2,8). Second, while the nearest background text to Rev 11,1-2 may well be Ezek 40–48, its clear parallel in Rev 21 suggests that it is not John’s intention to evoke (only) Ezekiel’s temple vision here. Third, the act of measuring seems rather to be a prophetic-literary device whereby God directs the prophet’s attention to some aspects of his plan concerning the object measured, in order that the prophet may learn something, and then proclaim it41. Finally, any sense of protection or security in the measuring passages of Ezekiel, Zechariah