The fourth perek of Massekhet Tamid focuses on the slaughter and sacrifice of the daily Tamid offering. The Mishna describes in some detail how the animal was taken and prepared for slaughter and how it was then butchered and placed on the altar as the first offering that began the new day of the Temple service.
The Gemara quotes a Mishna in Massekhet Shekalim (6:1) that describes the layout of the Temple courtyard where these preparations took place.
There were thirteen tables in the Temple. There were eight of marble in the slaughterhouse on which they used to wash the innards; two to the west of the ramp, one of marble and one of silver – on the marble one they used to put the limbs before bringing them to the altar and on the silver one the vessels of service; two in the Entrance Hall near the opening to the Temple, one of silver and one of gold – on the silver one they used to place the shewbread when it was first brought in, and on the gold one when it was taken out, because with holy things we always go a step higher and not a step lower; and one of gold inside the sanctuary on which the shewbread always rested. Given that there must be no sign of poverty in the abode of wealth, why then were any tables made of marble? They should have been made of silver or even of gold! Rav Ḥinnana answered in the name of Rabbi Asi, and Rabbi Asi in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: Because the metal would heat the flesh.
The Mishna relates that the silver table held the “vessels of service.” The Rosh explains that this refers to the 93 kelei sharet that were prepared daily for use by the kohanim in the Temple service. It is difficult, however, to imagine that the table held all of these utensils. Furthermore, it would make more sense to place them closer to the entrance of the courtyard so that they would be readily available to the kohanim as they needed them. A possible suggestion is that most of the kelei sharet stood near the entrance and that the silver table served to hold only those utensils that were needed on the altar itself.