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 y, 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 z, 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.
y Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 5.) z Prospect of the Temple, ch. 38. sect. 2.