Comparing this statement with Hebrews 9:4, it would seem that Solomon, now that the sacred chest had reached its final resting-place, and stood in a large chamber surrounded by tables 2 Chronicles 4:8, removed the pot of manna and the rod from the interior, and set them elsewhere in the holy of holies.

Save the two tables of stone - See my notes on Hebrews 9:4 (note).

There was nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb,.... That is, there were no other writings; or, as Ben Gersom says, no other part of the law, but the decalogue otherwise he observes there were in it Aaron's rod and the pot of manna, according to Hebrews 9:4 though the particle there may be rendered "at", or "with", or "by"; see Gill on Hebrews 9:4 and so they might be not within it, but in some place on the sides of it, see Deuteronomy 31:26,

when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt; about two months after.

"There was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone, which Moses had put there at Horeb, when Jehovah concluded the covenant with Israel." The intention of this remark is also simply to show that the law, which enjoined that the ark should merely preserve the stone tables of the covenant (Exodus 25:16; Exodus 40:20), had not been departed from in the lapse of time. אשׁר before כּרת is not a pronoun, but a conjunction: when, from the time that, as in Deuteronomy 11:6, etc. כּרת without בּרית, signifying the conclusion of a covenant, as in 1 Samuel 20:16; 1 Samuel 22:8, etc. Horeb, the general name for the place where the law was given, instead of the more definite name Sinai, as in Deuteronomy (see the Comm. on Exodus 19:1-2).

(Note: The statement in Hebrews 9:4, to the effect that the pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded were also to be found in the ark, which is at variance with this verse, and which the earlier commentators endeavoured to bring into harmony with it by forced methods of different kinds, simply rests upon an erroneous interpretation of העדוּת לפני in Exodus 16:33-34, and Numbers 17:10, which had become traditional among the Jews; since this merely affirms that the objects mentioned had been deposited in front of the testimony, i.e., in front of the ark which contained the testimony, and not within it, as the Jews supposed. - Still less are De Wette and others warranted in deducing from this verse an argument against the existence of the Mosaic book of the law in the time of Solomon, inasmuch as, according to the precept in Deuteronomy 31:26, the book of the law was not to be kept in the ark, but by the side of it, or near it.)

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.

when the: or, where the

9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone-Nothing else was ever in the ark, the articles mentioned (Heb 9:4) being not in, but by it, being laid in the most holy place before the testimony (Ex 16:33; Nu 17:10).

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.