“Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers.” Revelation 11:1
In Ezekiel 40-43, there is an extended passage where a temple is measured. The temple in Ezekiel is best understood as the temple of the millennial earth and the temple of Revelation 11 seems to be before the temple of Ezekiel. Yet there are similarities; the temple in Ezekiel is also measured extensively (Ezekiel 40:17-19).
This prophetical passage about measuring the temple seems to refer to Ezekiel’s vision. The design of this measuring seems to be the preservation of the church in times of public danger; or for its trial, or for its reformation. The worshippers must be measured; whether they make God’s glory their end, and his word their rule, in all their acts of worship. God will have a temple and an altar in the world, till the end of time. He looks strictly to his temple. The holy city, the visible church, is trodden under foot; is filled with idolaters, infidels, and hypocrites. But the desolations of the church are limited, and she shall be delivered out of all her troubles. God’s church will last forever. There are a few other Biblical examples of measuring. In Zechariah chapter 2, a man measured Jerusalem, a scene that evidently showed God’s coming judgment on the city. In Revelation chapter 21, the New Jerusalem is measured.
Sometimes in the Old Testament, the idea of measuring communicates ownership, protection, and preservation. When Habakkuk prophesied, He stood and measured the earth (Habakkuk 3:6), the idea was that the Lord owned the earth and could do with it as He pleased. When this temple is measured, it shows that God knows it’s every dimension, and He is in charge. “He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed. His ways are everlasting.” (Habakkuk 3:6)