1 Kings 7:29

And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims ,.... The figures of them, for ornament sake; the cherubim, being distinguished from lions and oxen might be figures of men, or else of eagles, as Josephus F25 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 5.) , see Ezekiel 1:10 .

and upon the ledges there was a base above ; a flat piece of brass laid upon the top of the staves or bars:

and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work ; these, according to Dr. Lightfoot F26 Prospect of the Temple, ch. 38. sect. 2. , whom I chiefly follow in this account, were shelving plates of brass at the bottom of the borders and bars, where the priests washed the sacrifice; the filth of which ran off the easier, through the angle of them.