Look at the position the lever is in when the car is in park. That is where you need to put it after you remove the rod.
That rod is already out but the way it looks to work is that when the car is in 1st it pushes the lever all the way forward which would push the rod all the way up and the part on the column would go all the way to the top so in park it would be at the bottom.
I've tried the key with it all the way up and with it all the way down. Makes no difference on key operation, insertion or removal and no difference in steering column or wheel operation.
