1 Kings 7:15

Two pillars] These pillars, though placed at the porch (1 Kings 7:21), probably did not support its roof but were detached from the building, and intended for symbolic purposes only. Two similar pillars are said to have stood in the temple of Melkarth at Tyre, one of gold and the other of emerald (or green glass); and the like are depicted on the coins of Paphos. Originally such pillars, whether natural obelisks or artificial columns, were regarded as the abode of the Deity, so that offerings were placed or poured upon them in order to be conveyed to the indwelling spirit (of which primitive notion the action of Jacob at Bethel shows a surviving trace, Genesis 28:18), but subsequently they became emblems merely, marking the spot where they stood as sacred: cp. Isaiah 19:19. The details of the pillars erected before the Temple are obscure (the text in places being defective or disordered), but their general appearance is easily intelligible. They were hollow (Jeremiah 52:21) columns of brass, 12 cubits in circumference and 18 cubits high, surmounted by capitals (chapiters) five (in Jeremiah 25:17 three) cubits high, globular in shape (1 Kings 7:42) and decorated with tracery (1 Kings 7:17). Around each capital ran two rows of pomegranates, and above each rose an ornament, 4 cubits high, shaped like the cup of a lily.