[1969 Project]

I've been having this loud noise whil I drive. It's definetly coming from Under the hood. I checked it out today and noticed when I grab the shaft it and wiggle it it's very loose from where it connects to the firewall, almost like it needs to be pushed in or something, you can see the gap in the picture. Is this actually part of the steering coloumn? Any one had this issue or any ideas on what I need to do to get this fixed? As always thanks for the help.