1 Kings 8:8

8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They're still there today.

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 Then the priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

7 The outspread wings of the cherubim stretched over the Chest and its poles.

8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They're still there today.

9 There was nothing in the Chest but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt. The Temple Finished, Dedicated, Filled

10 When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled The Temple of God.