The sparse numbers may have been for the best. Security was tight for visitors trying to get through the ring of fencing that has encircled the Capitol building since the January attack and the thousands of National Guard troops patrolling the perimeter. And though the architect of the Capitol moved a metal detector installed outside the House chamber to spare Mr. Biden the indignity of passing through it, other attendees were funneled through secure checkpoints.

Between the added layers of security and health protocols, there was no room for the usual crowds of guests invited by the president, the first lady and members of Congress to sit in the chamber. Representative Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 4 House Democrat, was among those who invited a guest from her district to join her virtually instead, an experience she conceded was nothing like the thrill of being physically present in the Capitol.

“It’s a good refresher of how incredible it is to work in this building, to see these iconic figures that you work with and get used to, when you see it through someone’s eyes, like a guest,” she said.

The few lawmakers who got to attend in person got more access to the president than even the most ambitious aisle hogs do in normal years. After Mr. Biden ended his speech and the applause had subsided, he lingered as he made his way out of the chamber. As Democrats and a few Republicans swarmed him and snapped photos, the president offered fist bumps and leaned in for quiet conversations, savoring his final moments in the chamber even as his security detail urged him onward.