Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God?
Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
Joel 2:16 Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Joel 2:17 Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God?
Joel 2:18 The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people.
Joel 2:19 And the Lord answered, and said to his people: Behold I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them: and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
The verse centers on "between", "porch", "altar", "priests", "lord's", "ministers", "shall", and "weep". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "between" and "porch", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Gather together the people sanctify the church..." into verse 18's "The Lord hath been zealous for his...", so "between" and "porch" belong inside that flow. In Joel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "between" and "porch" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.