Here is something to consider about the two witnesses. There is a lot more explanation about this in context, which will come out as we study this further. The 3 1/2 years is highly significant here also. This time frame is consistent throughout the books of Daniel and revelation which verses mention 3 1/2 years, the 1260 days, Time Time and the dividing of times and the 42 months all refer to the same time frame, the 1260 years of papal persecution. The papacy was given world power in 538ad when Emperor Justinian gave the pope the throne of the Caesars in an effort to save Rome from complete annihilation. By around 538 the catholic church was well established and had more power then the civil power of the Caesars. This was the beginning of the church run state of the catholic church during the dark ages. In around 1798 the pope was taken captive and the power of the church was broken, and the papacy suffered the deadly wound of revelation 13:3.  In 1929 we can read in the SF Chronicle the headline that states "healing the wound". Here is an article about this http://www.biblelight.net/wound.htm 1929 was not the complete fulfillment of the wound being healed, but it started the healing process which will be completed when the image spoken of in revelation 13:14 is fully accomplished. This image of/to the beast is when apostate protestantism "harlots" join hands across the gulf with the "mother" "babylon" roman church, revelation 17. This has been shifted into high gear in the past 20 years. ALL mainstream protestant denominations have in fact joined with the catholic church. The leaders have signed unity agreements on different occasions.

Revelation 11:4. "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."
Evident allusion is here made to Zech. 4:11-14, where it is explained that the two olive trees are taken to represent the word of God; and David testifies, "The entrance of thy words giveth light;" and, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Written testimony is stronger than oral. Jesus declared of the Old Testament Scriptures, "They are they which testify of me." In this dispensation, he says that his works bear witness of him. By what means do they bear witness of him? Ever since those disciples who were personally associated with him while on earth passed off the stage of life, his works have borne witness of him only through the medium of the New Testament, where alone we find them recorded. This gospel of the kingdom, it was once declared, shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, etc.
These declarations and considerations are sufficient to sustain the conclusion that the Old and New Testaments, one given in one dispensation, and the other in the other, are Christ's two witnesses.
The two witnesses prophesied in sackcloth and ashes during the 1260 years of papal persecution. After 1929 they were given life and the bible was freely spread around the world. Up to that time, the 19th century saw great spiritual awakening which sparked interest like never before, but during that time not only was Christianity growing, but so was the new age movement. Whenever God moves to do great things satan is right there to counterfeit, and deceive. During the dark ages bibles were outlawed for the longest time. Only the learned were allowed to own bibles in latin only. For a time if someone got caught with a bible in the "common" language they were killed. The dark ages were spiritually dark indeed and the bible was very obscured, as the devil himself tried to eradicate it completely. God protected it throughout all times of deep darkness and spiritual prosperity.

I share this because there is not much time left. Many want to place most of the book of revelation into the future. I use to do that until I started to realize that all the plagues, the seals, the trumpets, the seven last plagues cannot all happen within the short time we have left before Jesus comes. We are definitely living in the time of the seventh trumpet and the seventh seal. As Europe was being formed there were many battles and empires which came and fell. To deny that this time frame was mentioned in the bible, and to try to stuff all these prophecies into the short time we have left would be to deny much of the history written in the bible. Europe started out as ten kingdoms represented by the last beat in Daniel 7:7 and onward through the description of this beast that had 7 heads and ten horns, then a little horn came up and plucked up three of the ten. The little horn is the papacy which completely wiped out the vandals ostrogoths and the heruli nations to extinction, or as the prophecy says plucked them up by the roots. All the ruckus during those times was actually the trumpets, and seals being fulfilled. Attila and the huns was considered wormwood. I read that on a web page a while ago but Google is editing and removing a lot of historic information, there is still some but it takes some digging. Before Atilla were Alaric and Genseric, the first and second trumpet, Atilla being the third. John also saw this beast looking back in history. If you notice how Daniel saw in the future the lion the bear and the leopard, John saw one beast which comprised the leopard the bear and the lion in opposite order looking back in the past. This all refers to the roman church. The first three beasts which Daniel saw were the kingdoms of Babylon Media-Persia, and Greece. We are told what the term beast represents throughout prophecy in Daniel:7:17: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." When we interpret prophecy there is one rule that really makes interpretation simple. We know that no prophecy is of any private interpretation but if we define terms like beast, which according to Daniel is a king, or kingdom. This holds true throughout all prophetic interpretation. ONLY for prophetic interpretation, we cannot use this same rule when interpreting Moses writings unless we find somewhere that he prophesied. There are many places that this rule is very obvious and others are not so obvious. We are told in revelation 12:9 who the dragon is, it is that old serpent called the devil and satan. This is how to interpret prophecy. There are many others, which I will list the ones I found biblical definitions for soon, like woman, waters, candlestick, etc.

The two witnesses are very hard to define from only the bible, but when we take history and the bible we can understand it much better.

Consider this about the court and the gentiles. The gentiles had been trodden under foot for the 1260 years of the papal persecution, but at the end of that time period the gentiles, you and I, of whom the gospel went to after the stoning of Stephen, were given the courtyard. God gave the temple to the jews only, but when the vail tore from top to bottom God's presence was no longer there, but the temple was, at least until 70 AD. Now there is no physical temple, but figuratively the courtyard has been given to the gentiles because the Jews lost there favor of God.

The "temple" is considered the church, or God's people. 1Corinthians:3:16&17: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." It takes much study and prayer to discern the spiritual from the physical, especially when it comes to prophecy. Remember God is Spirit and we must worship Him in Spirit, Spiritual things are Spiritually discerned. From what I have found about revelation is that it is almost totally spiritual. There is not much physical interpretation in that book. As God's people are the temple, and the physical temple only allowed for the jews to enter we are now in a spiritual aspect of the temple. We cannot interpret this context with the physical temple, which was destroyed in AD70, as the reference point. The courtyard is the next best thing for God to give to the gentiles, so I would place the courtyard as the reference point of this context.