1 And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

2 And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.

3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basins, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

4 And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

5 And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

6 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

7 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

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.

Today covers the creation of the altar for burnt offering and the washing basin. In the last verse we get an interesting detail, which tells us that the washing basin was made from the looking glasses—or mirrors—of the Israelites gathered at the entrance to the tabernacle.

One might wonder how mirrors would be used to create a brass washing basin. The explanation is that the mirrors of ancient times were quite different from the ones of today. These were not silver-backed glass mirrors, they were brass, extremely polished so that they could reflect an image back to the holder. Thus, these were brass mirrors, presumably melted down and reformed, that became the washing basin.

This is an important reminder that the Israelites were not bringing to the tabernacle random hunks of metal that were just lying about their house. Much of the material that was donated was already being used in personal heirlooms and household items. They weren’t just sacrificing the material, they were sacrificing things that they were actually using, things that already served a purpose, so that they could serve a higher purpose for the Lord.