Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 7:35

"And in the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base the stays thereof and the panels thereof were of the same." — 1 Kings 7:35 (ASV)

A round compass - This refers to a circular elevation, half a cubit high, rather than a circular depression half a cubit deep. Compare 1 Kings 7:29. The “ledges” and “borders” on the top of the base were its “hands” and its “panels.” These “hands,” distinct from the “shoulders” (1 Kings 7:30), were probably supports adorned with engraved plates (1 Kings 7:36), for either the elevated circle on which the laver stood or the lower part of the laver itself. Both the panels and “hands” were made “of the same”—that is, they were cast as a single piece with the base at the same time.