The Hebrew word here rendered “porch” occurs only this once in the OT. It comes from a root word meaning “to arrange” and hence may mean a “colonnade.” All that can be known with certainty is that it referred to some part of the building.
Locked them.
Likely made possible only by the fact that the servants had withdrawn completely to another section of the house. However, we infer that they saw Ehud leaving the house, for they returned to the room where the king was. Upon finding the doors locked, they decided that the king desired privacy for awhile.