What do the two olive trees and candlesticks in Revelation 11 represent?
The two olive trees and candlesticks represent the two witnesses, who are God's messengers for that time. The candlesticks symbolize the light they give forth; in the midst of tribulation darkness, wickedness, and cataclysmic events, these two men will be like a spiritual lighthouse.
Les explains that the two witnesses in Revelation 11 prophesy for 1,260 days, or three and a half years. Verse 4 identifies them as the two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth, meaning they are God's messengers for that time. The candlestick, he suggests, refers to the light it gives forth. Amid the tribulation's darkness, wickedness, iniquity, and cataclysmic events, these two men will still be like a lighthouse, a spiritual lighthouse. They also have special power: fire proceeds from their mouth to devour enemies, and they can shut heaven so it does not rain, as Elijah did, and have power over water to turn it to blood and smite the earth with plagues, which suggests Moses. Les does not get dogmatic about their identities.
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.