1 Kings 8:8

8. Drew out the staves “That is, they drew the staves, after the ark was set down in the most holy place, so far forward, that their ends could be observed from the sanctuary by the elevations on the vail, which might be seen in the sanctuary itself, but not without. The object of this cannot be determined with certainty. Some of the rabbies were of opinion that by this means the high priest on the great day of atonement was enabled to enter between the staves directly before the ark.” Keil. Others suggest that the drawing out of the staves was a sign that now at last the ark had reached “the place of its rest,” and was not to be carried about any more. Since the ends of the staves were visible from the holy place, it would certainly appear that the ark was placed lengthwise east and west within the oracle, for the staves which were on the longer sides of the ark would not have shown their ends by being drawn forward if they had extended north and south.

They were not seen without The darkness of the inner temple, and the golden altar between the place of these staves and the porch, would of course prevent their being seen by any except those who were in the holy place, and near by the golden altar.

Unto this day This must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and is therefore evidence that this account of the dedication was written while the temple was yet standing. The compiler of Kings did not deem it necessary to erase this remark from the older document which he seems to have used.