My Rebbi from Yeshivas Ner Yisrael, Rav Kalman Weinreb, shlit'a, explained this Gemara in the following way, citing the BE'ER YOSEF (Rav Yosef Salant, zt'l).

The Gemara says that the young Kohanim took the keys of the Heichal and ascended to the roof of the Heichal and said, "Ribono Shel Olam! Since we did not merit to be trusted Gizbarim before you, these keys are being given to you!" They threw the keys heavenwards, and the form of a hand extended down and took the keys. The young Kohanim then jumped from their into the fire.

There are a number of points in this Gemara that need explanation. First, why did they throw only the keys to the Heichal? They could have also thrown the keys to the Azarah!

Second, why did they throw the keys at all? Since the Heichal was already burning down, the keys would be of no use anyway!

Third, we learned earlier (Ta'anis 25a) that Hash-m only performs a miracle to give something; He does not take things through miracles.

It must be that the young Kohanim were trying to teach something through this symbolic act of throwing up the keys. What were they trying to teach?

Rav Yosef Salant, zt'l, explains as follows. In the Gemara in Shabbos (31a), Rabah bar Rav Huna says that "any person who has Torah but does not have Yir'as Shamayim is comparable to a Gizbar to whom the keys to the inner chambers were entrusted, but not the keys to the outer chambers." That is, just like the keys to the inner chambers are useless if one cannot get to those rooms since he does not have the keys to the outer chambers, so, too, a person's Torah is worthless if he does not have Yir'as Shamayim.

Rabah bar Rav Huna specifically uses the word "Gizbar" in his metaphor to allude to the Gizbarim in the Beis ha'Mikdash and the keys which they held.

The Gemara in Bava Basra (21a) says that the Chachamim enacted that in Yerushalayim there be teachers for the young children so that they be brought to Yerushalayim to learn Torah in fulfillment of the verse, "Ki mi'Tzion Tetzei Torah u'Dvar Hash-m mi'Yerushalayim..." -- "For Torah shall come out from Tzion, and the word of Hash-m from Yerushalayim." Tosfos there adds that by learning Torah in Yerushalayim, "the child would see the great Kedushah there, and he would see the Kohanim involved in the Avodah, and his heart would be inspired to Yiras Shamayim and he would develop a great yearning to learn Torah." (Tosfos brings support to this from the Sifri, which says that the Mitzvah of Ma'aser Sheni is especially great because it leads to Talmud Torah; by requiring the people to come to Yerushalayim, it enables them to see all of the people involved in Avodas Hash-m and they become inspired by it.)

The different parts of the Mikdash had different influences on the people that witnessed the Avodah there. When the people would come to the Azarah and see everyone serving Hash-m in Kedushah and Taharah -- the Kohanim performing the Avodah, the Levi'im playing their instruments, and the Yisraelim involved in their Ma'amados, it would have a great influence upon the people and inspire them to great levels of Yiras Shamayim.

Thus, the Azarah was the source of Avodas Hash-m and Yiras Shamayim. The Azarah was the pipeline through which Hash-m sent Yiras Shamayim into the world.

The Heichal, on the other hand, in which stood the Menorah, lit with pure olive oil, represented the light of Torah and wisdom. The Heichal was the pipeline through which Hash-m sent Chachmah into the world, the ability to fathom the depths of the Torah and to be guided by its light.

Therefore, the Azarah, representing Yiras Shamayim, was outside the Heichal, representing Torah. The only way to get to the Heichal was by going through the Azarah. Said Rabah bar Rav Huna, the only way to get to Torah is through Yiras Shamayim. If one learns Torah but does not have Yir'as Shamayim, it is like the Gizbar of the Beis ha'Mikdash having the keys to the Heichal but not the keys to the Azarah; the keys to the Heichal are worthless. Without Yir'as Shamayim, one's Torah learning is meaningless.

When the Heichal was destroyed, the wellspring through which Chachmah flowed into the world was stopped up. As a result, it became much more difficult to comprehend the wisdom of the Torah. In place of the natural flow of Chachmah into the world which the Heichal provided, another means to attain Chachmah would have to be found. This is what Rebbi Yehoshua ben Chananya teaches in Nidah (70b) -- if a person wants to attain wisdom, he must not only minimize his involvement in business and maximize the time that he learns, but he must also Daven for mercy from Hash-m to give him wisdom. Tefilah took the place of the Heichal as the means to attaining wisdom in Torah in this world.

This is what the young Kohanim were teaching us when they took the keys of the Heichal and threw them heavenward. They were showing that from the time of the Churban, the keys to attaining Chachmah returned to Hash-m, and thus the only way to attain Chachmah is by Davening to Hash-m to open one's heart and light up one's eyes in the depths of the Torah.

This is why they threw only the keys to the Heichal. Only those keys were going back to Hash-m. The keys to the Azarah -- that is, the keys to Yir'as Shamayim -- remain here with us, even after the Churban, for "everything is in the hands of Shamayim, except for Yir'as Shamayim" (Berachos 33b; see Rashi to Nidah 16b). Since Yir'as Shamayim is in the hands of man to attain, the Kohanim did not throw the keys to the Azarah heavenward, but only the keys to the Heichal. They were showing that the source of Chachmah in the world had been destroyed, and until the Beis ha'Mikdash is rebuilt, our ability to comprehend the depths of the Torah is lacking and the only means to compensate is through Tefilah.

May we be Zocheh to once again be witness to the Avodah in the Azarah and the light of Torah shining forth from the Heichal!

Chag Samei'ach,

Y. Shaw