Exodus 38:8 — And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Are you a “Downton Abbey” fan? Myra is. I’m on the fence. The historical detail is wonderful and the dialog is usually fine — but the story lines make such a soap opera! The characters are great … with the women mostly more lively than the men, especially, “below stairs” — in service.
This piece is about women in service too — but a very different service. It’s a story that I think is hidden in plain sight in the Bible. It’s the story of women in the service of the Temple, and later the Church.
It’s easy to pass over this verse in Exodus. But it says so much.
I suppose I might get in trouble for saying this but I believe Eve probably saw her reflection in one of the rivers that ran through Eden, and women have set a lot of store by mirrors ever since. Mirrors weren’t easy to come by in Moses’ days. There was no glass, and polished bronze was the best reflector available. So for these women to give up their mirrors was a big sacrifice. But they were women who ministered at the tabernacle of the congregation. Here’s what Matthew Henry has to say about such women:

It seems in every age of the church there have been some who have thus distinguished themselves by their serious zealous piety, and they have thereby distinguished themselves; for devout women are really honourable women (Acts 13:50), and not the less so for their being called, by the scoffers of the latter days, silly women.

There’s lot’s of evidence of a “formally” lower view of women in Jewish society. And yet there are Biblical hints of a different “working” view — consider, for instance, the “Proverbs 31” woman who buys and sells goods and land.
Women could not penetrate beyond the outskirts of the Temple, and later could not get involved in the activities of the synagogue because they were levitically unclean for several days every month during their menstrual cycle. And yet there were women like Anna the prophetess who greeted Jesus (Luke 2). There were women who supported Jesus. Move forward just a little bit into the book of Acts, and you find women like Lydia and Priscilla who played an important part in the emerging church.
What does all this mean? I think it means that women have always had a vital part to play in the church. They have often made great sacrifices to support the ministry. Sometimes Paul’s directions about leading and teaching can be misinterpreted and that can lead to the role of women in the church being undervalued. If all the scriptures are taken together, the whole story comes into focus …