Now Samuel didn't yet know Yahweh, neither was the word of Yahweh yet revealed to him.
The writer may have intended to mark the beginning of Samuel’s ministry with his statement that the lad opened the doors (i.e., the curtained openings into the courtyard) of the Lord’s house (1 Samuel 3:15; cf. 1 Samuel 1:28 b). [Note: See J. Gerald Janzen, "’Samuel Opened the Doors of the House of Yahweh’ (1 Samuel 3:15)," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 26 (June 1983):89-96.] Evidently the curtained openings were closed at night.