Bird's-eye view
In this brief but weighty passage, Yahweh gives Moses the instructions for the bronze laver. This piece of tabernacle furniture was not for show; it was a matter of life and death. Positioned strategically between the altar of burnt offering and the entrance to the holy place, the laver was a divinely mandated stop for every priest on duty. Before approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice, and before entering the tent of meeting to serve before the Lord, the priests were required to wash their hands and feet. The text states the reason with stark clarity: they were to wash so that they would not die. This command underscores the absolute holiness of God and the corresponding need for ceremonial purity for all who would draw near to Him. This is not about hygiene; it is about theology. The laver stands as a permanent type, a bronze illustration of the cleansing from the defilement of the world that is necessary for all who would minister before a holy God.
The passage concludes by establishing this practice as a "perpetual statute" for Aaron and his descendants. This points beyond the Old Covenant priesthood to the reality they prefigured. The principle is unchanging: access to God requires cleansing. While the bronze laver has passed away with the shadows of the old covenant, the spiritual reality it represented is now fulfilled in Christ. Believers, who are now a kingdom of priests, must also be washed, not with literal water from a bronze basin, but by the regenerating work of the Spirit and the sanctifying power of the Word of God.
Outline
- 1. The Command for Priestly Cleansing (Ex 30:17-21)
- a. The Laver's Construction and Placement (Ex 30:17-18)
- b. The Mandate for Aaron and His Sons (Ex 30:19)
- c. The Occasions and Consequence for Washing (Ex 30:20)
- d. The Perpetual Nature of the Statute (Ex 30:21)
Context In Exodus
These instructions come in the latter part of the detailed blueprint for the tabernacle that God gives to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Lord has already described the Ark of the Covenant, the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, the tabernacle structure itself, and the great bronze altar for burnt offerings. He has detailed the priestly garments and the consecration ceremony for Aaron and his sons. The instructions for the laver fit perfectly into this sequence. Now that the place of worship (the tabernacle), the means of atonement (the altar), and the mediators (the priests) have been established, God provides the means for their ongoing ceremonial purification. It is an essential piece of the liturgical puzzle, ensuring that the consecrated priests can perform their duties without being consumed by the holiness of the God they serve. It is a practical provision of grace, a way for sinful men to navigate the holy ground of God's presence.
Key Issues
- The Holiness of God
- Ceremonial Purity
- The Danger of Unclean Worship
- The Priesthood of Aaron
- Typology of Water and Washing
- The Fulfillment in Christ
- The Meaning of "Perpetual Statute"
So That They Will Not Die
We live in a casual age, and our casual assumptions often bleed over into how we think about God. We tend to think of God as approachable, friendly, and safe. But the Bible presents a far more bracing and glorious reality. God is a consuming fire. His holiness is so absolute, so pure, that our sin and defilement cannot exist in His immediate presence. The instructions for the laver are a stark reminder of this truth. The central, repeated refrain is "so that they will not die." This is not an arbitrary rule from a fickle deity. It is a fundamental law of the spiritual universe, like gravity. Bringing the common, the defiled, the unclean into direct contact with the holy results in destruction. God, in His mercy, provides a way for His chosen priests to be cleansed, so that they might serve Him and live. This is not about God needing the priests to be clean; it is about the priests needing to be clean for their own survival in the presence of God.
Verse by Verse Commentary
17-18 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
The command comes directly from Yahweh, as do all the instructions for the tabernacle. This is not man's idea of how to approach God; it is God's own provision. The laver is to be made of bronze. We learn later, in Exodus 38:8, that it was made from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. There is a beautiful poetry in this; instruments of vanity, of gazing at oneself, are melted down to become an instrument of purification, of preparing to gaze at God. Its location is crucial. It stands in the courtyard, between the place of blood sacrifice (the altar) and the place of holy service (the tent of meeting). No priest could get from the gate to his duties without passing the altar and the laver. Atonement and cleansing are the necessary prerequisites for entering God's presence.
19 And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it;
This rite is specifically for the priests, Aaron and his sons. The common Israelite did not approach the tent or the altar. This was the work of the mediators. They were to wash their hands and their feet. Why these parts? Their hands were for ministering at the altar, for handling the holy things, for offering the sacrifices. Their feet were for walking on holy ground, within the sacred precincts of God's house. The washing signified a cleansing from the defilement of the world, preparing their actions (hands) and their walk (feet) for holy service.
20 when they come into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to Yahweh.
Here the two specific occasions are laid out. First, before entering the tent of meeting itself, the holy place. Second, before approaching the bronze altar to perform their duties. In short, any time they were "on the clock" as priests, performing their mediatorial work, this washing was the first order of business. And the reason is repeated with solemn gravity: so that they will not die. Forgetting to wash was not a minor slip-up. It was a capital offense. It was to treat the holy things of God with contempt, to bring the common into the sacred space, and the penalty for such liturgical treason was death. God is not to be trifled with, and His worship is a serious business.
21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his seed throughout their generations.”
The command and the consequence are repeated a third time for absolute emphasis. This is not a suggestion. This is a foundational rule for the priesthood. And it is to be a perpetual statute. Now, how does this work, since we no longer have a bronze laver? The statute is perpetual in the principle it embodies. The need for cleansing before approaching God is an eternal reality. The Aaronic priesthood and its rites were a shadow, a type. The reality is Christ. He is our great high priest, and we, in Him, are a kingdom of priests (1 Pet 2:9). The laver pointed to the spiritual washing that we receive through Christ. The principle of necessary cleansing is perpetual; the bronze basin was temporary. We are now washed by the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) and sanctified by the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26). The statute is not abolished; it is fulfilled and transformed in the new and better covenant.
Application
The lesson of the bronze laver is a deeply practical one for every Christian. We are a royal priesthood, and we have been given access through the veil by the blood of Jesus. But this access does not give us a license for carelessness. As we walk through this world, we are constantly picking up dust and grime. Our hands and feet become defiled by our contact with a fallen world and by our own sin. The laver reminds us that we need constant, daily cleansing.
This is not a re-sacrificing for sin; Christ's work on the altar of the cross was once for all. This is the washing of feet that Jesus spoke of with Peter in John 13. We who have been bathed (justified) still need our feet washed (sanctified) from the daily grime. This happens through the humble and regular practice of confession and repentance. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). That is our laver. To neglect confession, to waltz into prayer or worship with unconfessed sin, is to play the part of a foolish priest. It is to approach the holy God while still covered in filth. The stakes are eternally high. Let us therefore draw near, but let us draw near with true hearts in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.