8:9 [There was] nothing in the ark {e} save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant] with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
(e) For it is likely that the enemy when they had the ark in their hands took away the rod of Aaron and the pot of manna.
8:9 Nothing - Strictly and properly: but in a more large sense, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod were also in it, Heb 9:4, that is, by it, in the most holy place, before the ark of the testimony, where God commanded Moses to put them.
8:1-11 The bringing in the ark, is the end which must crown the work: this was done with great solemnity. The ark was fixed in the place appointed for its rest in the inner part of the house, whence they expected God to speak to them, even in the most holy place. The staves of the ark were drawn out, so as to direct the high priest to the mercy-seat over the ark, when he went in, once a year, to sprinkle the blood there; so that they continued of use, though there was no longer occasion to carry it by them. The glory of God appearing in a cloud may signify, 1. The darkness of that dispensation, in comparison with the light of the gospel, by which, with open face, we behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. 2. The darkness of our present state, in comparison with the sight of God, which will be the happiness of heaven, where the Divine glory is unveiled.
