There is a possibility that the speaker here is not the angel of the preceding chapter; for the words in verse 1 “and the angel stood” may be an interpolation, they being found in very few manuscripts.  See the Revised Version and the Emphatic Diaglott, Greek and English.  If not, then he must be the angel through whom the Revelation was given.  Chap. 1:1; 22:8.  Whether the angel is the same as the one in the preceding chapter or not, it is evident that that series of prophecy ends with chapter 10, and that he here introduces a new line of events running over the entire gospel dispensation[7], in which John as an active agent in the panoramic vision still stands as a symbol of the people of God, who, in striking contrast with the blind devotees of an apostate church, are commanded to “measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”  The temple with its altar and court and the holy city itself, here used as symbols, are representative of something analagous, and refer to no other than the outward, visible church of God with its doctrines and worshipers.  Its measurement is designed to show how far it conforms to the true church; while the rod is a symbol of the revealed will of God, by which the measurement is brought as to a true standard.

[Footnote 7:  This statement may seem to conflict with the classification of events in the “Diagram of the Revelation,” where this prophecy is treated, not as an independent series, but as part of a compound series beginning with chapter 8 and ending with chapter 11.  For thus classifying it my reason is, that the line of prophecy beginning with chapter 8 introduces the seven trumpets, and therefore the series is not complete until the seventh trumpet is given, which event concludes the line of truth given in the present chapter.]

By noticing briefly the arrangement of the temple and the purposes to which the different apartments were put, we shall be able to understand better the design of this vision.  The temple proper consisted of two apartments.  In the first stood the altar of incense and other things; in the second, the ark of the covenant, etc.  The priests officiated in the first apartment regularly, while into the second went the high-priest alone once every year.  This, Paul informs us, was a shadow of a greater and more perfect tabernacle.  Heb. 9:1-11; 8:2.  The altar that is mentioned and that John was to measure is a symbol of the great cardinal doctrine of the church—­the atonement and mediation of Christ.  He was the sacrifice made for sin, through whom we have redemption and access unto God.  John was also told to measure those who worshiped therein—­the officiating ministers in the sanctuary—­who were thus made symbols of the ministers and the teachers in the church.  To measure the temple of God, then, was to ascertain the great doctrines taught in the Scriptures and symbolized by the sanctuary, the altar, and the priests; namely, the doctrines of the New Testament concerning God as the supreme lawgiver, the atonement of Jesus Christ as the only ground for justification, and the ministers whom he appointed to officiate in his church.