And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
The cloud filled the house of the Lord. The cloud was the visible symbol of the divine presence, and its occupation of the sanctuary was a testimony of God's gracious acceptance of the temple as of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). The dazzling brightness, or rather, perhaps, the dense portentous darkness, of the clouds, struck the minds of the priests, as it formerly had done Moses, with such astonishment and terror (Exodus 40:35; Lev 16:213; Deuteronomy 4:24), that they could not remain, because the cloud was the emblem of Him who made darkness His secret place (Psalms 18:11), who is invisible to mortal eyes, and "past finding out." Thus, the temple became the place where the divine glory was revealed, and the King of Israel established his royal residence.