Bible Strands
Exodus 38:8
Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses records the Tabernacle’s construction details during the Israelites’ wilderness journey. The narrative moves from the altar’s completion to the immediate crafting of the washing basin.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיַּעַשׂ (va.ya‘as) means “and he made,” and בְּמַרְאֹת (be-mar‘ot) literally translates to “with the mirrors.” The text specifies the basin and its bronze stand were fashioned directly from these mirrors.
The thread — The basin’s exact placement is later specified in Exodus 40:7 to sit between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. The women who served at the tent entrance appear in 1 Samuel 2:22, while Luke 2:37 records a widow’s personal devotion in the temple.
Why it lands — The text states that sacred objects were funded by the personal contributions of women who ministered at the sanctuary entrance. It requires a reader to observe how communal worship infrastructure was built through specific, documented offerings rather than abstract donations.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- Luke 2:37 and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
- Exodus 40:7 And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- 1 Timothy 5:5 The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
- Titus 3:5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Psalms 26:6 I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
- Zechariah 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
- John 13:10 Jesus told him, “Whoever has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and he will be completely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”
- Exodus 30:18 “You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it,
- Exodus 40:30 He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing;