דברי הימים ב, פרק י״ב, פסוק י׳

Following the loss of the kingdom's royal treasures, the king faced a new spiritual and physical reality. He needed to find a way to maintain the symbols of his sovereignty while navigating a fragile security situation. To replace the plundered golden shields, he crafted new ones out of copper [מצודת ציון]. This choice of material served a dual purpose. Practically, from a distance, copper could easily be mistaken for gold, maintaining an outward illusion of the kingdom's former glory [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. On a deeper level, the copper shields acted as a constant, humbling reminder. They stood as proof that the king's own sins had cost him the golden treasures of his ancestors. Having humbled himself and survived the wrath of God, the king designed these lesser shields as a memorial to ensure he would not revert to his sinful ways once the enemy had retreated [מלבי״ם].

The king then entrusted these new shields to the commanders of the royal guard, a specific elite unit responsible for protecting the entrance to the palace [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He handed them over as a formal deposit to be carefully guarded [מצודת ציון].

How these shields were actually used involves a few different perspectives. Some suggest they were never intended for practical combat or royal patrols, but were simply kept in custody as symbolic artifacts [מלבי״ם]. Others propose a routine function, noting that the shields were taken from the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in the hands of the guard commanders, and ultimately returned to the guards' chamber for safekeeping [רש״י]. A final approach points to a more active, fear-driven use. Plagued by deep security anxieties regarding the kings of Egypt and Israel, the king had his bodyguards physically carry these shields before him as a constant defensive measure [רש״י].