According to "en.wikipedia.org" on the "Metric expansion of space":

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The metric expansion of space is the averaged increase of metric (i.e. measured) distance between distant objects in the universe with time. It is an intrinsic expansion—that is, it is defined by the relative separation of parts of the universe and not by motion "outward" into preexisting space. The universe is not expanding "into" anything outside of itself.

The expansion of space is often illustrated with various models which show only the size of space at a particular time, leaving the dimension of time implicit:

* The "ant on a rubber rope model"
* The "rubber sheet model"
* The "balloon model"
* The "raisin bread model"

In the last model one imagines a loaf of raisin bread expanding in the oven. The loaf (space) expands as a whole, but the raisins (gravitationally bound objects) do not expand; they merely grow farther away from each other.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Raisinbread.gif

Perhaps a more complete assessment is that the interpretation of the metric expansion of space continues to provide paradoxes that are still a matter of debate. The prevailing view is that of Chodorowski: "unlike the expansion of the cosmic substratum, the expansion of space is unobservable".
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Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_expansion_of_space

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