Exodus 38:8

He made the laver of brass. — Comp. Exodus 30:18, where the laver is commanded, and the uses whereto it was to be applied are laid down. By “brass” we must understand “bronze” in this place, as in others.

Of the lookingglasses. — Rather, mirrors. The mirrors used in ancient times were not of glass, but of burnished metal. Bronze was the metal ordinarily employed for the purpose, and was in common use in Egypt, where mirrors were bronze plates, round or oval, with a handle, like our fire-screens. The Etruscan women employed similar articles in their toilets, and had them often delicately chased with engravings.

Of the women assembling. — It would seem that these women — the women wont to frequent the “tent of meeting” which Moses had recently set up (Exodus 33:7), and to flock thither in troops — offered voluntarily for the service of God the mirrors, which were among the most highly prized of their possessions. Moses, to mark his approval of their devotion, formed their offerings into the most honourable of all the brazen vessels, and recorded the fact to the women’s credit.