Note (return) — Chapter XI

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 dispensation7, 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.