OK I got it figured out now. You guys sure make simple to understand. Boy science sure is smart. So it wasn't empty space that blowup, it was space like in my closet full of junk. And I got to tell you I don't know how that stuff got in my closet either.
I deal with it like this: the whole thing is an illusion. We could follow Einstein's example and see if we can explain how the illusion works.
Maybe this will help a bit; When space exists you can spend time in it and/or move through it.
When space does not exist nothing exists (no particles, no force fields) that can spend any time in it or travel in it.
The concept of it does not even exist.