1 Kings 7:13 - Meaning and Application

Here is an account of the brass work for the temple. There was no iron used in the temple itself, though David had already prepared iron for iron objects (1 Chronicles 29:2). We are not told exactly what those iron objects were, but many of the brass items are described here, and the rest are only mentioned.

The craftsman Solomon used to lead this work was Hiram, or Huram (2 Chronicles 4:11). On his mother’s side he was an Israelite, from the tribe of Naphtali, and on his father’s side he was a man from Tyre, a Phoenician city (1 Kings 7:14). If he had Tyrian skill and an Israelite love for God’s house, then his mixed background made him well suited for the task. As the tabernacle was built with Egypt’s wealth, so the temple was built with Tyre’s skill. God often uses the ordinary gifts of people to serve his purposes.

The brass used was the best available. All the bronze vessels were made of bright brass, or good brass, the strongest and finest they could get (1 Kings 7:45). God, who is best, should be served with the best. That fits the whole work here, which was done with care and excellence.

The place where the brass items were cast was the plain of Jordan. That ground was stiff and clay-like, which made it fit for shaping molds for casting bronze (1 Kings 7:46). Solomon did not want this dirty, smoky work done in or near Jerusalem. The practical arrangement also kept the temple area clean and fit for worship.

The number of vessels was so large that they were not counted. The wording in 1 Kings 7:47 can mean they were unnumbered as well as unweighed, since there were so many that keeping track would have been endless. The amount of brass was not checked when it was given to the workers either. That does not show carelessness, but honesty and great abundance. Solomon deserves credit for providing so much.

Several pieces of the brass work are then described. First were the two bronze pillars, set up in the temple porch (1 Kings 7:21), between the temple and the priests’ court. It is not certain whether they stood under the porch roof or out in the open. They did not support gates or carry any weight in the building, they were for beauty and meaning only.

They were beautiful objects, with careful decoration, including checker work, chain work, net work, lily work, and rows of pomegranates, all in bright brass. They were shaped with skill and good proportion to please the eye. Their names also carried meaning: Jachin means, “He will establish,” and Boaz means, “In him is strength” (1 Kings 7:21).

Some think these pillars were reminders of the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel through the wilderness. I think they were more likely meant as reminders to the priests and worshipers who came to God’s house. They taught them to depend on God alone, not on their own strength, for firmness and help in worship. When our hearts wander, faith should draw help from heaven. Jachin says, “God will fix this moving heart.” It is a good thing for the heart to be established by grace.

They also reminded Israel that God would strengthen and establish his temple among them if they stayed faithful. If they kept close to God and to duty, they would keep their privileges and dignity. The promise would stand and continue. The gospel church is also what God will establish and strengthen, and the gates of hell will never defeat it. But when this temple was later destroyed, special notice was taken of the breaking of these pillars (2 Kings 25:13, 2 Kings 25:17). They had been signs of stability, but they would not protect a people who had abandoned God.

Next was the bronze sea, a very large basin, more than five yards across, which held more than 500 barrels of water for the priests’ use, especially for washing themselves and the sacrifices, and for keeping the temple courts clean (1 Kings 7:23). It stood on twelve bronze oxen, raised so high that people either needed steps to reach it or taps at the bottom to draw water. The Gibeonites, or Nethinim, the temple servants assigned to draw water for God’s house, likely filled it.

Some think Solomon made the oxen to support this great basin as a kind of rebuke to the golden calf Israel had worshiped. In that case, the message would be that those figures were not fit to be worshiped, only to serve as supports. Yet that did not stop Jerusalem later from setting up calves as false gods. In the tabernacle court there had been only one bronze laver for washing, but in the temple court there was a bronze sea. That shows the fuller cleansing provided in the gospel of Christ, compared with the law of Moses. The law had a laver, but this has a sea, a fountain opened (Zechariah 13:1).

There were also ten bronze bases, or stands, on which ten lavers were placed. These held water for temple service, since the bronze sea could not supply everyone at once. Their bases are described at length, and they were richly decorated and mounted on wheels so the lavers could be moved as needed (1 Kings 7:27, 1 Kings 7:39). Usually they stood in two rows, five on each side of the court. Each laver held forty baths, about ten barrels of water (1 Kings 7:38). Those who carry the Lord’s vessels must be very clean. In a spiritual sense, priests and sacrifices must be washed in Christ’s blood and in the washing of new birth. We need washing often, because we keep becoming unclean. God has made full provision for cleansing, so if we remain unclean forever, the fault is ours.

Besides these, there was also a large number of bronze pots for boiling the meat of the peace offerings, which the priests and worshipers ate before the Lord (see 1 Samuel 2:14). There were shovels for removing ashes from the altar. Some think the word may mean flesh hooks, used to take meat out of the pot. There were also bronze basins to receive the blood of the sacrifices. These stand for all the utensils used with the bronze altar (Exodus 38:3).

While they were at this work, they made a large number of these pillars, so that there would be a good supply on hand when the first ones wore out and decayed. In this way, Solomon, having the means to do so, made provision for future generations.