thermodynamics - In heat conduction, what does it actually mean to be in the steady state?

I have read about the method of heat conduction and I have some questions related to this topic:

If I consider a metal bar and supply heat in one end, the heat will flow through the bar and if I consider the bar to consist of many layers then each layer absorbs some amount of heat and the rest of the amount will flow to the next layer. So will all the layers attain the steady state at the same time?

And I have read that at steady state all the layers are no longer able to absorb any heat energy. Why can't the layers absorb any heat when they have reached steady state?