Daf Yomi Insights - Berachos 41

The Gemara tells us that if someone enters a house that has tzoraas on the walls and he has clothing resting on his shoulder or is carrying shoes or rings in his hand, both he and the items he is carrying become טמא, ritually impure, immediately. If he is wearing the clothing, or the shoes are on his feet and the rings on his fingers then, whereas he is טמא immediately the clothing, which now are subordinate to the person and do not have their own significance, do not become impure until he has remained in the house for a few minutes.
The Bais HaLevi learns from here that if two people are about to enter a shul, one of them is wearing talis and tefillin and the other one is holding his talis and tefillin in his hand, and neither one of them is more prominent which would create a Halachic requirement that he be allowed to enter first, then from this Gemara we learn that the person carrying the talis and tefillin enters prior to the one wearing them. This is because in the case of the one wearing the  talis and tefillin, they become בטל, subordinate, to the person and have lost their independent significance, but in the case of the one carrying them they are still considered to be  talis and tefillin and therefore he should enter first as you have both a person as well as talis and tefillin entering.
In Shearis Yaakov Rav Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern questions this ruling. First of all, he asks, while we find rules about which person comes first with regards to entering a building we do not find any such rules regarding objects, even if they are objects used to perform a Mitzva. For that matter the person wearing the talis and tefillin is currently fulfilling several Mitzvos each moment and surely should come before a person who isn't and is just holding the objects. Also, even though our Gemara does say that with regards to the laws of Tumah objects that are worn lose their independent significance, that doesn't mean that they have lost their holiness because they are being worn. On the contrary, they are at their holiest when they are being used for a Mitzva. Therefore it would seem that even if we look at the holiness of the objects alone the ones being worn should take precedence over the ones being held.
As is his custom, Rav Morgenstern then offers a kabbalistic viewpoint to understand the Bais HaLevi. He explains that the approach of the Bais Halevi's family, the Brisker approach, is to understand the חכמה, wisdom, within the נגלות התורה, the revealed portions of the Torah. With this approach the idea is to offer many logical concepts, many of which do not actually have a practical application. They are, in Kabbalistic terms, lights without a vessel to contain them. In the world as we know it today, עולם העשייה, we need to actualize the light by performing a Mitzva, otherwise it has no meaning and efficacy. This is why one must perform a Mitzva, together with the intent behind the Mitzva, and it is not sufficient to just contemplate the concept. But the Brisker approach is the approach of מצוות בטילות לעתיד לבא, that in the post-Messianic times we will not perform the Mitzvos but just contemplate the ideas.
Therefore, to the Bais HaLevi, coming from such an approach, a Mitzva object in the hand, one that is not actually being performed, but represents the idea of the Mitzva, the light of the Mitzva, represents a higher state than one which is being performed and the person carrying the Tefillin should go first.