The Symbolic Temple in Revelation 11:1-2

“But do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it has been given to the nations. John envisions a sanctuary with two parts: the enclosed temple building (naos) and the open court (aulē) around it. The basic pattern is like that of the tabernacle, which had an enclosed central structure and a surrounding open court . . . The Herodian temple was more complex, with a court for priests, a court for the men of Israel, and another court where Jewish women could go. These were separated from the plaza that surrounded the temple by a low wall that warned Gentiles not to enter (Josephus, J.W. 5.190-94). Gentiles could enter the outer plaza or court of the Gentiles, but that space did not belong to Gentiles. It was part of the temple complex and was one of God’s “courts” . . .Revelation, however, simply distinguishes the enclosed temple from the open court” (C. Koester, Revelation, A New Translation, 485).

Along with the fact that the temple in Revelation is never the literal temple in Jerusalem, the fact that John is the one protecting the sanctuary and the worshipers inside of it, that the entire passage in 10 and 11 is highly symbolic, the fact that the Herodian temple's sanctuary was completely destroyed in A.D. 70 and not preserved in any way, etc,, Koester offers another argument against the idea that this is the literal temple in Jerusalem, i.e., this isn't a description of the Herodian temple standing in Jerusalem.