Chapter 12 – The Laver –

Chapter 12

The Laver

And the LORD spake 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: (Exodus 30:17-20)

   Passing by the brazen altar, we approach the laver. The laver was placed here at the entrance to the tabernacle for the purpose of the washing of the high priest, Aaron, and his sons, so that they would be sanctified in their service for Jehovah. We will address this sanctification in our next study.

   The laver was constructed from brass. Brass or copper represents God’s righteousness as to judgment. In all ways, God must be satisfied against man’s sin. We see the searching eye of God in both the revealing of sin, and in the justification by faith in Christ Jesus in this brass. This is God’s dealing with man as a responsible being. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son of man, was given authority over all flesh, and He has been given the scepter of judgment by God the Father.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:24-27)

   The Lord Jesus Christ takes the place of Judge of the living and the dead. This position was acquired by His life of perfection, and His atoning death on Calvary. He not only will judge between the lost and the saved, but also all in the Church who are unrighteous. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (Revelation 1:15) We see His feet as burning brass cleansing the Church of sin and judging her adversaries. Let us look at the mirrors that were given in Exodus 38:8, And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. These mirrors should speak to our hearts, as they remind us of man’s pride and vanity.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

   Vanity and pride must be dealt with by the individual Christian. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. (Psalm 10:4) Pride has no place in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, or in the heart of the believer. These mirrors came with the women out of the land of Egypt (Ham). Remember that Egypt speaks to us of the world that has rejected Christ. These mirrors were a possession of pride, but when God chastened their hearts, they gladly gave up their mirrors for the service of Jehovah. These mirrors were fashioned into the laver; and thus, the priest was able to approach the laver and see in the reflection from the laver any defilement on his hands and feet. It was here where he washed in the waters of sanctification. The priests dared not pass the waters without washing because the penalty for entering into the holy place without being sanctified was death.

   The Apostle Paul looked into the mirror of the laver, and wrote in Romans 7:18, and 24; For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? James also speaks if the mirror in James 1:23-25.

For 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 of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

   We should put all things that speak of worldliness and pride away in order to do the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul looked within himself in Romans 7, and saw a wretched man, and James wrote of the perfect law of liberty. The Samaritan woman, in John’s gospel, looked into the eyes of God’s Christ and knew that He knew everything that she had ever done, and went and declared to the men of the city, Is not this the Christ?

   We need to look within ourselves for sin and pride. Think of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:9-14.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

   What a picture of pride and self-righteousness. Yet, because of the publican’s self-abasement, he went to his house justified before God. All of us need to look at our condition before God and to be humbled by our utter worthlessness. It is only Christ in us who gives us any worth at all. Wherever there is a lack of self-judgment we will find the Laodicean spirit as in Revelation 3:16, 17.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

   The lack of self-examination brings pride and worldliness. And much to the shame of the Laodiceans (or the professing church of our age), Christ was on the outside knocking and not in their midst. Therefore, let us draw near to the laver of self-examination that by looking into the laver of the Word of God — we may draw nigh to God. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. (Psalm 119:9)

© Copyright 2007, Michael Haigh

Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.

All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)