1 Kings 14:27
And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house.
This verse belongs to the history of the kings of Judah after the kingdom divided, when Rehoboam succeeded Solomon. As punishment for idolatry, Shishak of Egypt plundered the temple and the royal palace at Jerusalem, carrying away Solomon's gold shields and other treasure to Egypt. The same event is told more completely in 2 Chronicles 12, and evidence concerning it is found at the temple at Karnak in Africa up the Nile.
In their place Rehoboam made bronze shields and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard who kept the door of the king's house at the palace entrance. When the king went to worship, the bronze shields were carried with him to the temple, then brought back to the guard chamber and locked away. The loss of the gold and its replacement with brass marked the beginning of lasting financial trouble for Judah that continued until it ceased to be an independent nation.
The bronze shields were an inferior substitute for the lost gold, though better than having no shields, and they were carefully guarded only after something more valuable had been lost through neglect. The contrast teaches people to value and faithfully care for blessings before they are lost, rather than guarding what remains afterward while grieving that the substitute cannot restore the original.