1. Revelation 11:2 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why must John not measure the court outside the temple?

Revelation 11:2 (ESV)

2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

In the temple of the Old Testament, worshippers were permitted in the outer court but not inside the temple; the inside was reserved for the priests. The temple of Revelation 11:1–19 that John was to measure symbolized the church of God. The outer court, close though it was to the temple proper, was not where God dwelt with his own, was not renewed by the Spirit to be “like living stones” to form “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5) where “God’s Spirit dwells” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Outside, even very close by, belongs to “the nations.” Due to their proximity to the temple (the church), these nations know what the church is about and hear its witness.