The Tabernacle Part 5 The Laver Series

THE LAVER

(Ex. 30:17-21; 38:8)

We have studied DECISION at the gate, (God’s provision for sinful man) and ACCEPTANCE at the alter of sacrifice. We now come to the third step in the approach of man to God, namely, CLEANSING at the laver.

Exodus 30:1 7-21

• The laver was a basin of brass set on a stand or pedestal, called the foot."

• And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

“Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and his seed throughout their generations."

1. For the priests.

• For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet thereat" (Ex. 30:19).

• God had purposed that Israel should be "a kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6).

"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.

• Israel broke God's law so the priestly office was shut up to Aaron and his sons

Ex. 28:1

And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he

may minister unto me in the priest's office..”

• A priest is a person who has access to God

• Through the rent veil of Christ's body (Heb.10:20) all believers have access to God. “By a new and living way,

which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the

house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an

evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

All believers are now priests (I Pet. 2:9).

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

2. The materials

• The materials in the wall, the gate, and the altar of sacrifice have been very significant…The same is true of the

laver.

" 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." (Exodus 38:8.)

3. The purpose.

• In their priestly service the hands and the feet of the priests became soiled.

• The laver provided a place of cleansing.

Water was placed into this receptacle of brass.

• The looking glasses were used to show defilement. Brass always speaks of judgment.

• The looking-glass in Scripture is a symbol of the written Word of God; as it is written:

..”if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For

he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner he was." (James 1:23,24.)

• Looking into the Word of God is compared to looking into a glass

• The Laver made of the looking-glasses is a symbol of the written Word of God.

2 Cor 3:1 8

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same

image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

• As we look into the mirror of God's word we should be changing from "GLORY to GLORY.....or 'from character

to character’. God's word should be cleansing us....that is changing us to be more like Jesus. We should read

God’s word and see ourselves just as if we looked into a mirror. God’s word reveals to us the need we have to

clean the dirt from our face and so we wash it off. Getting mad at the mirror and smashing it for revealing the

mess on our face would be insanity. Yet that is what many in fact do when they refuse to allow God’s word to

bring about repentance.

• When the doctor tells you bad news.....typically you don’t hit the doctor…you listen to him if you want to get

better. When the word of God informs you that you are living the wrong way, then you change your ways