23 Hiram's next project was to make the Sea - an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet tall, and forty-five feet in circumference. 24 Just under the rim there were two bands of decorative gourds, ten gourds to each foot and a half. The gourds were cast in one piece with the Sea. 25 The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the bulls faced outward supporting the Sea on their hindquarters. 26 The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or like a lily. It held about 11,500 gallons. 27 Hiram also made ten washstands of bronze. Each was six feet square and four and a half feet tall. 28 They were made like this: Panels were fastened to the uprights. 29 Lions, bulls, and cherubim were represented on the panels and uprights. Beveled wreath-work bordered the lions and bulls above and below. 30 Each stand was mounted on four bronze wheels with bronze axles. The uprights were cast with decorative relief work. 31 Each stand held a basin on a circular engraved support a foot and a half deep set on a pedestal two and a quarter feet square. The washstand itself was square. 32 The axles were attached under the stand and the wheels fixed to them. The wheels were twenty-seven inches in diameter; 33 they were designed like chariot wheels. Everything - axles, rims, spokes, and hubs - was of cast metal. 34 There was a handle at the four corners of each washstand, the handles cast in one piece with the stand. 35 At the top of the washstand there was a ring about nine inches deep. The uprights and handles were cast with the stand. 36 Everything and every available surface was engraved with cherubim, lions, and palm trees, bordered by arabesques. 37 The washstands were identical, all cast in the same mold. 38 He also made ten bronze washbasins, each six feet in diameter with a capacity of 230 gallons, one basin for each of the ten washstands. 39 He arranged five stands on the south side of The Temple and five on the north. The Sea was placed at the southeast corner of The Temple.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 7:23-39
Commentary on 1 Kings 7:13-47
(Read 1 Kings 7:13-47)
The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple, some think, were to teach those that came to worship, to depend upon God only, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. "Jachin," God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be established with grace. "Boaz," In him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in use of the means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and for uncleanness.