Halfway between the bronze altar and the holy place there stood a brass or
copper bowl, "laver," filled with water. The laver (place of
washing), was placed on a stand or a "foot." The whole thing
probably looked somewhat like a bowl with a saucer underneath it. The priests
of the tabernacle were required to stop there and wash their hands and their
feet before entering the temple. They did not wash their hands and feet in
the laver. They washed their hands and feet at the laver.
So the laver is not a picture of baptism. It is a picture of something
else. Our first clue is that it was made from the mirrors or
"looking glasses" of the women who assembled at the door of the
tabernacle of meeting.
"He made the laver of bronze and its base
of bronze, from the bronze (copper), mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the
door of the tabernacle of meeting." Exodus
38:8
note: The Hebrew word for bronze is the same as the word for
copper or brass, so we really do not know if this laver was made of copper,
bronze or brass. We think it was made of copper because we think the
Egyptian mirrors were made of copper.
So this copper laver represented the washing of the word of God. The
Bible says that God's word is like a mirror or a "glass."
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he
observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he
was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in
it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be
blessed in what he does. James 1:23-24
Our second clue is that this "laver" was daily refilled with
fresh "living" water from the river flowing out of the rock that
Moses had struck! The word of God comes from the heart of God and gives
life to us.
Feet symbolize our conduct, or our daily walk, while hands symbolize
service. We need to wash our hands and feet every day, before we start
the day (enter into God's service). The priests had to do this
since there was a morning and an evening sacrifice.
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This is a picture of a bronze bowl recovered from an archeology
dig at Beth Shan, Israel.
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note: "Living" water was water that
came from a spring. When Jesus was crucified they pierced His heart with
a spear and water gushed out. That would be living water from a
spring. The word of God comes from the heart of God
and brings life to us.
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Here is a copper bowl with a brass handle. You can
see that copper can be highly polished so that it becomes like a
mirror. If the shape of the bowl is perfectly round like a half
sphere, your reflection will be upside down! In other words you
will be forced to see yourself exactly as you really are! Artists
sometimes paint people's portraits from an upside down viewpoint so that
they can get every detail correct. In other words they are forced
to see what is there, rather than make an interpretation. The
mirror of God's word does that for us. |
note: Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Copper is a natural element and
can be mined in its natural state. Ancient Egyptian mirrors were made of
copper. Yet brass could have been used to make the brass
laver. It is possible to mine copper mixed with zinc from the same
ground. Scholars will continue to debate whether the "brass"
laver was made from brass or copper. My vote is for copper since the
ancient Egyptian mirrors from the time of Moses were made of
copper.
note: If the brass laver was actually made of
copper, it may have had a reddish tint, reminding us of the blood of Jesus.
next
lesson: Bronze Altar
previous lesson: The Menorah
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