Exodus 38:8
And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
The laver with its base was made of brass from the mirrors of the women who gathered at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Those mirrors were of polished bronze, prized and valuable in a time when glass was unknown. It held water in the court between the altar of burnt offering and the sanctuary, where the priests washed their hands and feet before entering, since to approach God uncleansed meant death. It belonged to the dwelling God commanded Israel to make so He could dwell among them after redeeming them from Egypt. As part of that sanctuary it served as an object-lesson of the plan of salvation, with its forms and furniture foreshadowing Christ and the true heavenly tabernacle. The women's surrender of what was useful and prized showed real sacrifice for God's house, and their assembling shows that women ministered at its entrance.
Laver's Material and Use
The laver with its foot or base was made of brass taken from the looking-glasses or mirrors of the women. Those mirrors were of polished metal or bronze, and they were valuable because glass was not then known. The women who gave them assembled or gathered in crowds at the door or entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation, the tent of meeting.
The laver held water for the priests' use as the basin where they washed their hands and feet before entering the sanctuary. To approach God without that cleansing meant death. The brass vessel stood in the tabernacle court between the sanctuary and the altar of burnt offering.
The tabernacle to which it belonged was prepared and fitted out and then set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the Exodus.
Sanctuary Setting and Purpose
Exodus 38:8 belongs to the worship part of Exodus, chapters 25 to 40, which sets forth Israel's established form of worship after the going out from Egypt as they became an organized nation. It belongs to the detailed instructions and records for constructing Israel's sanctuary and to the account of carrying out the Lord's directions explicitly as God directed and as shown to Moses in the mount on Sinai.
The sanctuary so described was made as God's dwelling place among His people, which He asked the people to make so that He could dwell among them. The pattern for the marvelously beautiful sanctuary was divine, given by God to Moses in the mount, and God specially endowed the workmen to build it from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel. The work was done as God directed, and the completed sanctuary was accompanied by blessing and the manifestation of God's glory, and its inauguration and the manifestation of God's glory showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
After redeeming Israel from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand, God gave the sanctuary as a great, multiple object-lesson by various forms and rites comprehending the great plan of salvation, because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend His salvation and the character He required. The verse belongs to the laws given through Moses for the old dispensation concerning offerings, sacrifices, and types, whose shadows point to the substance of the new dispensation. The wilderness sanctuary built in the wilderness after Israel came out of Egypt was a worldly sanctuary with specified furniture that was typical of and foreshadowed the true heavenly tabernacle and pointed to Christ and His power to forgive sin and transform character.
Women's Gift and Service
The mirrors surrendered for the laver were useful and prized belongings given to furnish God's house, and giving them up was real sacrifice. That surrender showed willingness to sacrifice what was personally valuable for the work of the sanctuary. Those who brought their mirrors came in crowds to do so. According to the Septuagint, they fasted on the day the laver was set up.
Women assembled at the entrance of the tabernacle of the congregation, and there they ministered or served. Their assembling included the contribution of their looking-glasses for the making of the laver and its base. This service at the tabernacle shows that a woman could be devoted to service there with perpetual virginity, as in the case of Jephthah's daughter. It likewise supports the possibility that Jephthah's daughter was devoted to lifelong service at the tabernacle rather than put to death as a sacrifice.