1 Kings 8:8

8 The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day.

1 Kings 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:8

And they drew out the staves
Not made them larger, as Ben Gersom, than those in the tabernacle of Moses, this place being larger than that; nor did they draw them wholly out, and lay them up in the sanctuary, there being no further use for them, the ark having now a fixed place, and not to be removed; which would have been contrary to ( Exodus 25:15 ) but they drew them out some little way:

that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the
oracle;
not in that part of the temple commonly called the holy place, in distinction from the most holy, for that seems to be denied in the next clause; nor could they be seen there, since there was a wall and a vail between them; though some think they might be seen when the door was opened, and the vail turned aside; and these also pushing against the vail, might be seen prominent, like the breasts of a woman under a covering, as the Jews express it; but the sense is, that the ends of these were seen out of the ark from under the wings of the cherubim, being a little drawn, in that part of the most holy place which is before the oracle or mercy seat:

and they were not seen without;
neither quite out of the ark, nor without the most holy place, nor in the holy place; but were only seen by the high priest when he went in on the day of atonement, and served as a direction to him to go between them before the ark, and there perform his work ^F20; which, through the darkness of the place, and the ark being covered with the wings of the cherubim, he could not otherwise discern the exact place where it stood:

and there they are unto this day:
when the writer of this book lived, even in the same situation.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Vid. Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1.

1 Kings 8:8 In-Context

6 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the {most holy place}, under the wings of the cherubim,

7 for the cherubim [were] spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.

8 The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day.

9 There was not [anything] in the ark {except} the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh {made} [a covenant] with the {Israelites} after they went out from the land of Egypt.

10 When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "on the face of"