Bible Commentaries
2 Chronicles 4

Verses 1-22

CHAPTER 4 The Vessels that were for the House

1. The altar of brass (2 Chronicles 4:1 )

2. The molten sea (2 Chronicles 4:2-5 )

3. The ten loaves (2 Chronicles 4:6 )

4. The ten candlesticks (2 Chronicles 4:7 )

5. The ten tables (2 Chronicles 4:8 )

6. The court (2 Chronicles 4:9-10 )

7. The work of Huram (2 Chronicles 4:11-17 )

8. The work of Solomon (2 Chronicles 4:18-22 )

The altar of brass, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits broad and ten cubits high, is not mentioned in the book of Kings. In the south-east of the court of the temple, stood the molten sea, which rested upon twelve oxen, three looking northward, three looking westward, three southward and three eastward. It received and held 3,000 measures of water. (3,000 measures was the full amount it could contain; the usual contents, however, were 2,000 measures [1 Kings 7:26 ].) The molten sea was for the priests and the Levites to perform their ablutions. It is typical of that cleansing which His people need and which is so graciously provided by the Lord Himself. The immense quantity of water contained in the molten sea suggests the unlimited provision grace has made. In Revelation 4:6 , we read that before the throne was a sea of glass like crystal. This sea of glass is an allusion to the molten sea in Solomon’s temple. But it is not a sea of water, but of glass like crystal, because the redeemed (symbolically seen in the twenty-four elders) in glory do no longer need cleansing. They have entered upon a perfect and fixed state of holiness. The ten lavers with their bases were for the washing of the sacrifices. We see that instead of one laver there were ten; and there were also ten candlesticks and ten tables. Everything was an increase and on a large scale, while the whole house and its contents represented an untold wealth. It all foreshadows that coming glorious Kingdom of Christ. Then there will be the increase and the blessing typified by the ten lavers, the ten candlesticks and the ten tables. The brazen scaffold, five cubits long, five cubits broad and three cubits high which Solomon had made upon which he stood and kneeled in prayer (2 Chronicles 6:13 ) is not mentioned in this chapter.

The Priest’s court was enclosed by a wall of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams (1 Kings 6:36 ). It had massive gates covered with brass. What Huram had worked for Solomon and Solomon’s own work concludes this chapter and the account of the building the temple.