The outside pole light fixture has a black, white and copper wire. At the pole I have a black wire , white wire, a red wire, a copper rod and a white covered copper rod.

How do I connect? I connected the whites and blacks, but I don't know what to connect the copper coming from the fixture to.

Your pole black connects to your fixture black and do the same for the whites. Is there a second switch somewhere that also operates this pole light?/ That may be the red wire but tell us if there is a second switch first. Also tell me more about these two rods, were they wired to the old fixture or are they part of the mechanical cover or something?

Thank you for your response. No second switch. I don't remember if they were wired to the old fixture. They are part of the wires in the pole. They come up through the poles wiring. A bare copper one and a white covered copper one.

Try just using the pole black, white and bare cooper, thumb nut the others and check to see if it works. Might use a tester first to confirm the black is power and white neutral. The bare copper is your ground wire not to be confused with a neutral.