Yes, I really do think that he was told to measure a physical temple. Be careful not to allegorize things that are supposed to be interpreted literally. Sure, there are deeper spiritual meanings behind the physical objects of the Tabernacle (such as the altar of incense being the prayers of the saints), but that doesn't negate the reality that those physical items still exist and will be brought into a physical rebuilt temple structure, and that the Antichrist will physically desecrate it by erecting a physical image that will literally speak and literally kill people (a demonically-possessed AI), and that the mark is a literal and physical mark worn by occultists for thousands of years- not just symbolically. Unless the text says its symbolic or allegorical, it's best to interpret it literally.
There is no desecration of a physical temple by an Antichrist because such a 'temple' would be his own temple with his own Antichrist system.
Hardly likely that the Antichrist will desecrate his own 'temple'.
God has only one temple in the world since the veil of the physical temple was torn in two when Jesus died on the cross. To believe otherwise is quite possibly a part of the apostasy mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2.
You need to catch up on the only gospel and the only New Testament doctrine and be careful not to fall too far behind.
What you read below is the one and only true New Testament doctrine regarding the sanctuary / temple of God based on the one and only true gospel:
The holy place of the New Testament
The New Testament makes a clear distinction between the temple building (hierón) and the actual sanctuary (naós) contained within any temple building:
ἱερόν hierón (hee-er-on'):
[Strongs Greek Dictionary] 02411 (English: Temple):
neuter of 2413; a sacred place, i.e. the entire precincts, whereas 3485 [naós] denotes the central sanctuary itself (of the Temple in Jerusalem, or elsewhere).
The last time that the New Testament uses the word naós (referring to the actual sanctuary in any temple) in reference to the 2nd temple in Jerusalem, is in the verses in the Gospels which tell about the tearing of the veil between that holy place / holy of holies, which occurred when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
After the verses talking about the tearing of the veil in the temple, the first time the word naos is used again, is in Acts:
Acts 7:48a
But, the Most High does not dwell in a temple sanctuary (Greek: naos) made with hands.
Acts 17:24
The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temple sanctuaries (Greek naos) made with hands.
-- the church & the temple in heaven -- (word used: naós)
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 & 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:15; Revelation 11:1-2; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:15 & Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5-6 & Revelation 15:8; Revelation 16:1 & Revelation 16:17; Revelation 21:22
When Paul wrote his letters to the churches at Corinth, Ephesus and Thessaloniki,
he used the word hierón in reference to the temple
in Jerusalem, which at the time of Paul's writing, was still standing (1 Corinthians 9:13), yet he consistently used the word
naós when speaking about the bodies of individual Christians, and the congregations of Christians as the tabernacle (temple) of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 & 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; and Ephesians 2:21-22).
Acts always uses the word
hierón in reference to the Jerusalem temple, except where the religious leaders of the Jews accused Paul of defiling what they called "this holy place". The words used in those verses are 'hagios topos" (not
naós).
So IF Paul was referring to a physical, man-made structure in Jerusalem in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 when talking about the man of sin seating himself up in the sanctuary of God, there is no reason why Paul would not have used the word hierón - but he did not - he used the word naós in 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
The "cities" mentioned in the Revelation are:-
1. "Babylon the Great".
2. The city "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt".
3. The cities of the nations which fell when the 7th bowl of wrath was poured out.
4. "New Jerusalem".
There are no verses in the Revelation where "Babylon the Great", or the city "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt", or the cities of the nations which fell when the 7th bowl of wrath was poured out, are called "the holy city",
but the Revelation calls New Jerusalem "the holy city" three times:
Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:10; and Revelation 22:19.
Revelation 11:2 is talking about the holy city. The temple that Revelation 11:1 is referring to is the naós - it uses the word naós for "temple".
The other city referred to in Revelation chapter 11, is referred to as a city that is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:8).
THE HOLY CITY
But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the first-born
who are written in Heaven,
and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
(Hebrews 12:22-24)
"For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all." (Galatians 4:25-26).
Unless 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1-2 are the only exceptions (and they are not exceptions), the New Testament does not use the Greek word naós in reference to (what was until then) the holy place of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem again after the verses in the Gospels which tell about the tearing of the veil between that holy place / holy of holies, which occurred when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
Since 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1-2 are not exceptions, this means that Revelation 11:1-2 is symbolically telling us about the same thing that is being referred to in Revelation 13:7 more directly.
Anyone who does not believe that
no physical temple or church building or anything else = the place where the holy Spirit of God dwells, is only proving that he or she
either does not truly believe the gospel or does not fully grasp the meaning of Christ's body.
Even a church building is not the sanctuary (naos) of God until two or three are gathered together in Christ's name in it.
A physical temple in Jerusalem regarded as the sanctuary of God will be an Antichrist temple and will probably also have an antichrist system of sacrifices for sin going on in it.
No Antichrist is going to desecrate his own 'temple'.
