They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Exodus 38:8

This is the first mention of women serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. We don’t know who these women were or what they actually did—apart from donating their mirrors.

Some believe they performed cleaning duties, like a modern-day church cleaning roster. However, the word used here for service is a specific type of service that has military overtones. It’s the same word used to describe the duties of the Levite priests. They were fulfilling an important role without attracting much attention, even in a male-dominated environment.

In the culture of the time, which was a ‘war culture,’ they understood God in terms of a Great Warrior. The priests and these women believed they were engaging in spiritual warfare as they went about their tasks. The language reflects this perspective.

Today, as we serve the Lord in different capacities in our churches, do we think of our duties as spiritual warfare? By devoting our time and energy to our local gathering of believers we’re announcing to the heavenlies that we believe this is a worthwhile use of our resources. The outworking of our faith makes a powerful statement to the spiritual forces that would oppose us and fulfils the purposes of God: “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10).

We know that our labour is not in vain, regardless of the type of service we perform, because ultimately we’re serving the Lord.