Exodus 38:8

Perhaps this was made of brass. Remember that brass is not the same as bronze. Brass is copper and zinc. Now the problem here is that zinc was not used very much in ancient times. It was known. There were things made of brass. But it was more difficult to work with. However please notice Exodus 38 in the chapter explaining more about how it was made.

What this shows is that the laver was made of bronze mirrors. Remember that the Hebrew word for bronze could mean anything from pure copper to brass to bronze. So it could have been any one of those things. But it was probably a high-quality alloy whatever it was. It could be highly polished, and therefore highly reflective. It was probably quite a stunning thing, this laver.

So, it is possible that these women having brought out their mirrors from Egypt, this original metal could have been smelted and manufactured in Egypt beforehand, so it might have been with a higher copper content, or may have been brass.

Either of these would have changed the color from what we think about with bronze. Bronze tends to be reddish, whereas brass tends to be more golden colored. So, it is hard to say what the laver looked like—either yellowish, or reddish.

Now it has been said that the laver could have actually been so highly polished that it could have been used as a mirror itself. Many commentators tend to pooh-pooh that idea because they were just washing their hands and their feet, and there was no need for a mirror to be there in the courtyard. Perhaps, the more fastidious of them would have used it as a mirror to make sure that they were of proper dress for their duties before God.