Ex. 30:17-2117And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 18Thou 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. 19For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20When 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: 21So 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 to his seed throughout their generations. (Exodus 30:17‑21).-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: so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
WE have now arrived at the two principal vessels of the "court of the Tabernacle," namely, the Laver and the Altar of Burnt-offering. Another metal, brass, entered into their composition. Gold was entirely confined to the covered holy places, and to the vessels which stood therein; whilst silver and brass were employed in the construction of the outer court, and the vessels of service which were set there. This latter metal seems intended to typify firmness, solidity, incorruptibility, and power of endurance; whereas the gold, as we have seen, has reference rather to glory and costliness. We read of "gates of brass" (Psa. 107:1616For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. (Psalm 107:16)), "bars of brass" (r Kings iv. 13), and " fetters of brass " (Judg. 16:2;12And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. (Judges 16:2)), as expressive of great strength and indestructibility. In the visions, also, of the Son of man (Dan. 10:66His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. (Daniel 10:6); Rev. 1 r 5), his feet are like " polished brass," in order to represent the power and strength of Him to whom all judgment has been committed. In the brass of the Laver and the Altar, our thoughts are directed to that firmness of purpose, and divine power of endurance, which were manifested in Christ, as bearing the weight of God's wrath and judgment on behalf of sinners. "He endured the cross, despising the shame." (Heb. 12:22Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2).)
The Laver forms a remarkable exception to all the other vessels of the Tabernacle, inasmuch as it was not, strictly speaking, used for priestly service at all. True indeed, the priests were to " wash their hands and their feet thereat;" but no sacrifice or offering was presented, no sweet savor ascended, no ministration God-ward was there effected. Its purpose was to remove that which would have disqualified for service, its aspect being exclusively towards the priests-a fact which itself affords a clue as to the interpretation of this type; for we shall find, as we further pursue the subject, that the Laver presents to us a figure of Christ, not in any priestly office now in the presence of God for us, but as the one by whose finished work, and in whom, we have ourselves been made priests unto His God and Father.
The brazen mirrors, used by the women " assembling at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation," were the materials of which the Laver was formed.' The mirror reflects back an image of ourselves; and it is used either to assist in adorning our persons, or to display to our own eyes our natural beauties or defects. If we had any real comeliness-if any beauty of nature yet remained on which we might gaze with complacency, and which might justly raise our self-esteem-then indeed the mirror might be retained, and used with profit and satisfaction. But if corruption has taken the place of comeliness, and "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness; but wounds, and bruises, and petrifying sores;"-if our nature is depraved from its very source, so that we have been "shapers in iniquity"-then the sooner we cease to contemplate ourselves-the sooner we lose sight of our own reflection, and looking away from self, rest our eyes on Him with whom we have been buried, and in whom we have been quickened and raised from the dead, the happier we shall be, and the holier will be our walk through the otherwise defiling paths of this world. Having once for all thoroughly learned what we are by nature, we shall cease to look at ourselves, either with the vain hope of discovering some features of beauty in which we might rest with satisfaction, or to be disgusted afresh with the evil and loathsomeness which a true picture of self cannot fail to exhibit.
It may be observed that the complete ruin of human nature was never distinctly enunciated in the law. The types themselves all fall short of depicting this great fact. We do indeed find some obscure intimations, which we are now able, through the perfect light of revelation in the New Testament, to follow out; and we can perceive that they inevitably lead to the conclusion of the entire fall of man-body, soul, and spirit. But the declaration of this sad truth was not made in all its present distinctness till He came, in “the fullness of the time," who was Himself to be the beginning of a new race of men. Accordingly, we find that the sin-offerings in Leviticus refer to certain actual breaches or transgressions of the law, and do not directly teach the fact of the nature of the sinner being depraved. Leprosy also, one of the types which perhaps approaches most nearly to "sin in the flesh," could only be dealt with when some clear and palpable tokens of corruption were manifested to the senses. Contact with death and uncleanness would defile the Israelite; but he was nowhere taught in the law, that those things which proceed "out of the heart" are really the things which pollute the man. (Matt. 15:18-2018But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. (Matthew 15:18‑20).) If the law had once plainly declared the complete and irremediable ruin of the whole man, it could not have been given consistently with itself; it would have been self-contradictory. For of what avail would it be to command righteousness by man's own efforts, if the same word declared his entire impotence and inability to be righteous? How could a physician propose a remedial process, if at the same time he pronounced the patient incurable? One of the purposes of God in giving the law was, by means of its commandments, to bring out into open manifestation the thorough ruin of the flesh. By the law, therefore, "the offense abounded" (Rom. 5:2020Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20)); "sin became exceeding sinful" (Rom. 7:1313Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. (Romans 7:13)); sin was detected, and the secret springs of the heart's evil laid bare (Rom. 3:2020Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20); Rom. 7:7, 87What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. (Romans 7:7‑8)); the Jew (the best man in the flesh) as well as the poor outcast Gentile has become " guilty before God." It was needful that such a condition of evil should be manifested, in order that grace and faith in Jesus Christ might be brought in, and righteousness, life, and salvation in Him might triumph. The law served as a test of man's powers, and of man's heart. The pool of Bethesda offered healing to any that had strength to use it: to an impotent man it presented only a tantalizing hope that could never be realized. He might indeed have learned thereby his own thorough impotence, instead of vainly hoping for power to reach the healing waters; but that was all that he could have obtained from the pool. For it is clear, that if the power to step into it had been his, then he might have done without it altogether: he would not have required its transient virtues, seeing he would already have ceased to be impotent before seeking its aid. So in respect to the law: one who had power to obey and keep its precepts would not have needed its restraints or promises, for he would have possessed righteousness and life at the very outset. The law then did not directly instruct respecting the entire ruin of the flesh, though one of its chief objects was to make manifest that fact; and there are allusions incidentally mingled with its teaching, from which it may now be inferred. In the type before us we trace a kind of hint as to the uncomeliness of the flesh, in the fact that the women (the fairest portion of mankind) gave up their mirrors; but even here it is the mere outward appearance, and not the hidden man of the heart that is alluded to.
Blessed instruction may be gathered from the circumstance, that the women " assembling at the door of the Tabernacle" were those whose mirrors were fashioned into the Laver. They had come to the place where the Lord dwelt, and they had probably intended to adorn themselves to their utmost, by the aid of their mirrors, in order to appear before Him in all the beauty they could display; but His presence had dispelled all these visions of their own comeliness, and had made them conscious that it were vain to attempt to please Him by any adornments of the flesh. They therefore stand before Him just as they are: they gather a knowledge of themselves at the door of the Tabernacle more true than even the mirrors could give them: these looking-glasses are consequently laid aside, and the Laver, with its purifying waters, is substituted for them. We find holy men of old learning the truth of the real condition of the flesh much in the same way. Job was a religious man, and perfect in his outward walk, but he little knew the realities of many truths that his head had learned and his lips uttered: he little knew how truly corrupt he was in heart, though he could at times declare the weak and unclean condition of man; but when at length he is brought into the presence of God, then the whole truth of his own corrupt nature bursts upon him: " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor myself; and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:5,65I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5‑6).) Isaiah had prophesied, and had declared the ruined state of the whole Jewish nation; but he had been a mere spectator of it, till he sees a vision of the glory of the Lord; and then he finds he is himself "a man of unclean lips," as well as dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips. (Isa. 6:55Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 6:5).) Daniel, the " man greatly beloved," exclaims, " My comeliness is turned in me into corruption," when he saw in a vision one like unto Him that appeared to John in the Revelation. And Peter is convicted in his own conscience of being "a sinful man," when the miracle at the lake of Gennesaret suddenly makes him realize that he is in the presence of the Lord. (Luke 5:88When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. (Luke 5:8).) In all these instances there is the discovery of self, brought with power to the soul, not by denunciations of judgment, nor by any, open manifestation of sin, but by the conscious presence of the Lord. God's estimate, and therefore the real condition of the flesh, is learned, and it is learned also where He is manifested, who has made a full provision for the entire cleansing of the whole man.
It is needful to remember that self-contemplation effects no change: could the real condition of the soul be traced as accurately as the looking-glass reflects an image, yet a man would not thereby be benefited. Gazing constantly at the mirror could never alter or improve one feature of the countenance, or wash away one stain of defilement. It is not only necessary that a man should know himself, but that he should also know a way in which he may escape from himself. A poor outcast leper had with muffled lips to pronounce the mournful words "unclean, unclean"-true record of his state-but his leprosy was not thereby lessened. The mirror must lead to the Laver; and God has provided a cleansing bath, to which the poor sinner, conscious of his misery, may at once turn and wash away his sins. But in order that a defiled person may be truly cleansed and rendered fit to approach God, two things are needful: the flesh itself, with all its outward filth and inward sources of corruption, must be purged away, and a new existence, a new life be imparted. The Lord Jesus speaks of these things to Nicodemus, in John 3 This Pharisee came to Jesus "by night," for he had a reputation to lose; he had whereof to glory in the flesh, being according to human estimation a righteous man; as such, he had become a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel. He had not rightly used the mirror to discover his real condition; or, if he had, he had gone his way, and straightway forgotten what manner of man he was. He knew not that he was a lost sinner, and consequently he knew not Christ as the Savior-the cleansing Laver. He recognized the Lord only as "a teacher come from God; " and came to Him for instruction, not for salvation, conscious that he had something yet to learn, but ignorant that he was totally corrupt. He therefore looked upon Christ as one who was only going to add something to the law of Moses, instead of owning Him as the living source of grace and truth. The Lord at once declares the great and startling truth, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Here indeed was the faithful mirror held up to man, which proved that no instruction in righteousness, no law of commandments, could set or keep him right; but that he was so corrupt, so fallen, that he needed a new beginning-a new existence. Nicodemus knew nothing superior to the flesh,-nothing more comely,-and he was unacquainted therefore with any other birth than that after the flesh: " How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? " The Lord then states the necessity of a Laver:-" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Here it is declared, again with the double Amen of God, that two things are needed,-a birth " of water," and of "the Spirit,"-a birth in which a complete cleansing process shall take place, and in which also a life of the Spirit shall be communicated. Man must be born again; and in entering into life the second time, there must be a provision made for the entire and eternal cleansing away of all that appertained to his previous existence in the flesh: there must be a bath which should also be a birth place: washing and a new life must be combined. To enter the second time into his mother's womb would effect no change, for " that which is born of the flesh is flesh: " could a man be thus born again ten times over, it would work no alteration in him; he would still remain the corrupt offspring of corrupt parents. Neither would any remedial process effect any improvement; the flesh under the best discipline could never be converted into spirit: that which is born of the flesh ever remains flesh. The teaching and discipline even of God towards it would not alter its root of evil. Israel was a clear proof of this. Educated under His care, hedged in from the rest of mankind by His laws and ordinances, nurtured by Him as His child, and with His oracles in their hands, yet what had been the result? Was the flesh improved? Had these careful and reiterated processes amended it? Christ's presence was an evidence as well as test of their condition. Nicodemus, a very master of Israel, manifested what their flesh still was-self-satisfied, ignorant of God, ashamed of the company of God's own beloved Son: this ruler of the Jews proved the truth of that sad and solemn word, " He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." It was therefore no gradual alteration, no progressive steps in improvement, no mere advance in righteousness, truth, or holiness, which this "teacher come from God" came to propound or assist. No; the flesh-the whole man-must be destroyed: a Laver must be fashioned containing such waters as should completely and forever purge away the very sources of corruption. And such a Laver is Christ crucified: -thence proceeds the cleansing stream which God has Himself provided for the sinner,-and that stream is blood:-" who hath washed us from our sins in His own blood." (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).) "They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev. 7:1414And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14).) The deep waters of death are those alone which God uses to purge withal; for it is not the washing away the filth of the flesh that could avail, were that possible: the flesh itself must be gone; the body of sin destroyed. This then is one essential part of the new birth-the destruction of the old nature. Christ crucified is our death unto sin: we have been crucified with Him. In His death God has judged and "condemned sin in the flesh" on our behalf. The billows of wrath have closed forever over the flesh: in Him we have been plunged into the deep waters of death, in order that the body of sin might be destroyed. This is the being "born of water." But the death of the Lord is also the cleansing womb from whence a new existence springs: out of that death arises life: His grave becomes our birth-place, and the Spirit is the communicator and power of that life, held as it is by us in union with Christ risen,-a life which is consequently "spirit," as contrasted with flesh. "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." (Rom. 6:88Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (Romans 6:8).) If Paul could say, " I have been crucified with Christ," he could also add, " Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20).) And as "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," so " that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." There is no conversion of the one into the other,-no mingling of the two. Blessedly and eternally distinct does the new and everlasting life of the Spirit remain; while the judgment of death abides on all that which is born after the flesh. The Laver is an obscure shadow of these truths of God: its very existence witnessed that all adorning or contemplation of the flesh was at an end; whilst its cleansing waters rendered the priests fit to approach and minister before the Lord.
"And thou shalt put water therein; for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat."
There are various typical uses of water in Scripture. Sometimes it represents that which cleanses; in other instances it is an emblem of life. When masses of water, such as the sea, waves, floods, are figuratively employed, it is generally to typify overwhelming judgments or wrath from God. The waters of the Deluge, the waters of the Red Sea, the waters of the deep that encompassed Jonah, have all this latter aspect. We need only compare the language of Psa. 42 and 69. with Jonah 2, and we shall at once perceive the application of this imagery to the sufferings of the blessed Lord on the cross, under the wrath of God.
Many a type in the Old Testament (and the Laver among the number) declared plainly the truth, that without perfect cleanness no one could draw nigh to God. Hence the divers washings and purifyings in which water was employed. But under the law, the link between the water that cleansed and the waters that overwhelmed in destructive judgment was not seen. In other words, it was not made manifest that cleansing by means of death was God's appointed way. The Lord Jesus was the first and last that came by "water and blood; not by water only, but by water and blood." (1 John 5:66This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. (1 John 5:6).) He came as the fountain of purity and life to sinful men, but not without blood. It is not only Christ, but Christ crucified that must be known, if the sinner would be cleansed and have everlasting life. Here the fountain of life is combined with the cleansing waters of death and judgment. Baptism is a type of these two things-death and resurrection-judgment and life-salvation, but salvation through destruction. The believer, plunged beneath those waters, has vividly set before him the reality that he has been buried with Christ into death, and that he owes his cleanness, and consequent life and fitness for God's presence, to the blessed fact of his having been judged in Christ crucified, and has thereby " suffered in the flesh and ceased from sin." Washing and burial are thus combined, for God's mode of washing the sinner is through death-the death of His Son; out of whose grave, as typified by the waters of baptism, the believer has been raised, quickened into new life, made clean every whit, and brought into the family of God. " Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses." (Col. 2:12,1312Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:12‑13).) A type this, not of the washing away of the filth of the flesh, but of the destruction, in judgment, of the Ash itself; at the same time there results the answer of a good conscience towards God, because the old man has been destroyed, and a new and holy life imparted, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 3:2121The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 3:21).)
The Laver, as fashioned by Moses, and containing water, does not directly teach these truths; for the law sought by external cleanings only to render the worshippers fit for God: but in Titus 3:4-64But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; (Titus 3:4‑6), we have the great fact of regeneration connected by the Holy Spirit with a vessel of this kind: " But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing (laver) of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." Here the "washing," or "laver" as it may be translated, is that of regeneration: the bath of new birth, analogous to the being "born of water"-born out of the death of Christ, wherein all our sins have been washed away-and " the renewing of the Holy Ghost," answers to the being "born of the Spirit;" a new nature-everlasting life-having been imparted through His power; but besides this, the same blessed spirit has been "shed on us abundantly." Salvation thus embraces these three unspeakable blessings, the washing from sin in the death of Christ, the communication of a new existence through the action of the Holy Ghost, and the pouring out that same Spirit to be the power, strength, and sustainer of the believer in his walk and service towards God.
One solemn lesson the Laver was well calculated to teach, namely, the holiness of that God to whom the priests were permitted to approach. A little imperceptible dust, unavoidably contracted in their path through the wilderness, was sufficient to render them unfit for His service, and would have exposed them to destructive judgment, had they attempted to minister before Him without its having been previously cleansed away: "When they go into the tabernacle they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire unto the Lord, so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not." It was not only that gross defilements would unfit them for their ministry, and call down vengeance on their heads, but the slightest contact with an unredeemed world, a speck upon the hand or foot, rendered them obnoxious to the fire of judgment, if they ventured unwashed into the presence of the Lord. This may well direct our thoughts to the holiness of that God " with whom we have to do:" His judgments are not against the great open enormities of vice only, which we see around, or the manifest defilements which we can recognize, but His controversy is with the flesh itself, be its developments what they may: whether from thence have proceeded the open grossnesses of sin, which even men can notice and condemn, or whether there is the evil thought within, in some almost unknown and unnoticed form, still it is the flesh, and in that a man cannot please God; all its desires, motives, and exercises are nothing else than "enmity against Him; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7).)
Any outward contact with death, or, as in this case, the hands and feet accidentally sullied, rendered the priests defiled: with us, before we were converted, it was the inward source of corruption, which no external cleansing could remove, that made us unfit for the presence of God-a corruption that manifested itself in all the varied exercises of thought and imagination which external scenes and associations excited, or which developed itself in the grosser works of the flesh, either actually committed or inwardly cherished. As we read in the Epistle of James, 1:14,15, "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Again, ignorance of the defilement was no proof that it did not exist; the priests were to wash whether they knew themselves to be soiled or not. The Laver was not to be neglected because they might fancy themselves clean. So as to man: whether conscious of it or not, he is unclean and unfit for God; he is not the judge of his own condition, neither is his conscience the true index of his state: God alone is the judge of that; and He has provided the precious blood of Christ, a witness on the one hand of what His estimate is of the sinner's ruin, and on the other, the full and eternal remedy for all that ruin. Lastly, no washing would have sufficed save that which was conducted at the vessel appointed by God to hold the purifying waters. If, having their eyes partially opened to their unclean condition, the priests had sought to purge themselves at some washing-place of their own construction, instead of at the Laver, they would have exposed themselves as much to the wrath of God as if they had altogether neglected His commands. He had provided a vessel constructed according to His own will, and which He knew would fit them for His own service. Had they sought another, it would have proved that they either despised His commands, or undervalued what He had furnished for their use. In either case they would have been guilty of a direct insult against the holiness, majesty, and wisdom of God. God has lifted up the Son of man on the cross, that cleansing and life might be the result to every one that believeth. No process, either instead of faith in the cross, or mingled with it, will avail. If anything in the soul either precedes or follows the cross, as a means of healing, Christ is made of none effect. Let even one little ordinance be added, and God is insulted; the soul has fallen from grace. In these days it is not likely that anything would be directly substituted to the exclusion of faith in the blood of the Lamb, as a means of fitting the sinner for the presence of God; but the great spreading snare of Satan is to suggest some additions to faith in that sacrifice, in order to the sinner's justification. The Laver is not altogether set aside, but some attendant vessels, not commanded by God, are arranged for use around it. But if the soul looks to any process antecedent to faith in Christ crucified as necessary to salvation, or makes any addition to that wondrous cleansing bath, so as to attach value to some subsequent efforts of its own, or some ordinances of God as securing redemption, in either case Christ is made of none effect. It was so with some of the Galatians of old. They had not openly set aside the cross of Christ, but they had added to faith a ceremony as a kind of completion of salvation, and thereby they had spoiled the Gospel; Christ profited nothing; they were bewitched by an evil power; they had fallen from grace. And do we not see this evil extending far and wide at this very time? Are there not around us those on the one hand who preach some gradual steps up to Christ, and on the other those who add ordinances to faith in Jesus as in some sense necessary to salvation? Is not baptism itself made to be a rite admitting the person baptized into a something connected with salvation, or a vehicle of some sort of grace linked on with redemption? And are not even the Lord's people almost afraid to lift a clear and warning voice against this subtle setting aside of the cross? Are not many of the saints of God bewildered on the subject, and consequently slow to cry aloud against this dishonor done to the work and person of the blessed Lord Himself? Would that an energy of the Holy Spirit might arouse the Church of God to cry "anathema" on such as bring in "another Gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ"!
The Laver had to be resorted to again and again by the priests; the cleansing and sacrifices under the law had constantly to be repeated, for the worshippers were never purged thereby; the "conscience of sins" still remained, for the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins; the waters of the Laver could never reach the heart. All was external, and cleansing never penetrated to the source of corruption. But by the offering of the Lamb of God, those that are sanctified are "perfected forever." The Laver of regeneration has effected a complete putting away of the flesh: through that the believer is at once and forever "made meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light." Still indeed the flesh is at work; the conflict between flesh and spirit will ceaselessly continue whilst we are on earth; but the practical victory over evil within, is to be maintained on the ground of the victory already accomplished in Christ for us. We are to mortify our members on the earth, because we have in Christ died to sin, and are risen together with Him. We "have put of the old man," and consequently we are to put on the practical ways of a believer. (Col. 3:9-I 2.) We are to walk in the Spirit because we are alive in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:2525If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25).) Here it is that many of the children of God mistake, through want of a clear perception of the great truths of salvation. The teaching of the Spirit of God is (if we may use the expression), from heaven to earth, and not from earth to heaven. He would fix our faith steadfastly on the fact that " old things are passed away, and all things are become new." He would instruct us as to the entire destruction of the flesh in the death of Jesus for us, and in our consequent life and resurrection with Christ risen and glorified; and having fastened our souls on these blessed facts, and thus rooted and grounded us in Christ, He would then make these truths to be the practical power of our walk and conduct on earth; so that we come back again to earth from heaven, to walk here below as a heavenly people, following the steps of that blessed one who came forth into the world from the Father. Unhappily too much of the teaching of the present day is of the reverse order-an attempt to lead to heaven by means of a clean walk on earth, instead of presenting a clean walk on earth as the result of being already "seated in heavenly places in Christ."
The Foot WHENEVER the Laver is mentioned, it is always accompanied with this addition, "and his foot." (Ex. 30:18,2818Thou 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. (Exodus 30:18)
28And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. (Exodus 30:28); Ex. 31: 9; Ex. 35:1616The altar of burnt offering, with his brazen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, (Exodus 35:16); Ex. 38:88And 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. (Exodus 38:8); Ex. 39:3939The brazen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, (Exodus 39:39); Ex. 40:1111And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. (Exodus 40:11); Lev. 8:1111And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. (Leviticus 8:11)) The word translated "foot" is not the ordinary one ךֶגֶל, but כֵּן which means "a base," or "basis." It was the firm part on which the Laver rested. No provision is made in the Scripture for carrying this vessel: there were no rings or staves attached to it, nor was there any "bar" provided on which it was to be borne: and in Num. 4, where the other vessels of the Tabernacle and Court are enumerated, and their respective coverings for the march specified, all mention of the Laver is omitted. Taking this fact in connection with its having a "base" whereon it rested, our minds are directed to the thought that this vessel had a definite place on earth; and that it was not, as far as it was a type, supposed to be moved about during the wilderness journey. Of course, as to fact, it was carried, but all mention of that circumstance is studiously excluded; and in seeking to interpret the type, we must avoid adding to what is recorded: an omission is often pregnant with typical importance. We are hereby apparently instructed in the fixedness and full accomplishment of the work of regeneration, and that it has its place on earth. The Lord Himself, when instructing Nicodemus in truths connected with regeneration, speaks of them as "earthly things," ἐπίγεια (John 3:1212If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:12)), things that take place on earth. Christ is the regenerating Laver because of His work on earth; and the fact of regeneration is not connected with any present priestly ministration of the Lord above, but is entirely a result of His death and resurrection here below. Besides which, it is while men are here in the flesh that they must, if ever, be born again; the passing out of this world to another would effect nothing. Could a man be translated from earth to heaven, his corrupt nature would remain unchanged; and the separation of the soul from the body at death improves not the sinner. But when once a man is born again he has new and everlasting life-he is cleansed forever: he has indeed to turn again and again to the cross of Christ for the sustainment of his soul, and for power over sin; he has hourly to remember that the " blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin," but he has already received the first great and enduring gift-" eternal life;" and thenceforward the Lord Himself becomes the strength and power of that life: " This life is in His Son." (1 John 5, " He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." (John 6:5757As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57).))
The apostle, when writing to the Corinthians, though he had to rebuke them for many sins allowed in their midst, yet confidently says, " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11))
r Ex. 40:77And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. (Exodus 40:7).-And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar. Ex. 40:3030And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. (Exodus 40:30)-And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar. IN the arrangement of the vessels in the Court of the Tabernacle, there seems to be an intention to denote the advance in truth which the soul makes, as it learns in the presence of the Lord, and by the teaching of His Spirit, the vast and varied blessings connected with redemption. We first approach the "gate of the court," and pass through it into the Court of the Tabernacle. " I am the door," said the good Shepherd; "by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9).) Here is one great truth of salvation learned-Christ as "the way" through whom the believer enters into God's presence. We next approach the Altar of Burnt-offering, having passed through the gate; the blessed truth of acceptance would here be realized; so that not only is the believer saved from wrath and sin, and a way made for him into the presence of God, but he is accepted according to all the perfectness and sweet savor of Christ. Again, a little further on we find the Laver between the Altar and door of the Tabernacle. At this vessel we are instructed in other truths, namely, as to the cleanness required in those who would serve God, and that He has provided that wherein the very source of evil has been washed away, and whereby the believer, as a new and risen person, is made meet for and has access into the heavenly courts, having a heavenly calling. The door of the Tabernacle may now be entered, the glory and beauty of the risen Lord be known, and the high standing and exaltation of the saint, as united to Him, be appreciated. Thus the progress of the soul of a believer in truth may be gathered from the arrangements of the Court and Tabernacle; though we must remember that all these blessings are the portion of every believer from the moment of his conversion, however little they may at first be realized.
One observation may be made in conclusion, and that with reference to John 13 The action of the Lord, related in this chapter, of washing the feet of His disciples, has been thought by some to refer to the priests washing at the Laver. This, however, seems hardly to be sustainable; for the priests were to wash their hands as well as feet: whereas the Lord says, " He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet." Again, the priests were to wash themselves, and that on pain of death: in John 13. on the contrary, it is the Lord who washes the disciples, and they are instructed to wash one another 's feet. Some priestly work of His own towards the believer is hereby manifestly typified; a service in which the saints themselves may participate. The act seems to refer to His constant watchfulness over His saints, in order that no carnal defilements, which they contract during their path along this world, might render their feet unfit to tread the heavenly courts above, or exclude from conscious fellowship with the Father. The Laver, on the other hand, leads our thoughts to the mode in which our unclean nature itself has been purged away.
Notes To The Laver 1 In our version the word "women" is in italics, because it is not found in the original. Some have from this fact supposed that it is wrongly inserted, and that the mirrors were used by men; but the Hebrew has the succeeding word " assembling," or " troops," with a feminine termination; from whence it would appear that the English translation is correct.
It will be observed that in the drawing of the Laver which accompanies this exposition, the circular shape in which it is ordinarily represented is not preserved. There is, in fact, no direction given in the Word, either as to the form or dimensions of this vessel; but it may be inferred that it was not circular, from the fact of the brazen scaffold used by Solomon (2 Chron. 6:1313For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, (2 Chronicles 6:13)), which was called by the same name, "כּׅיו֗ד being five cubits long, five broad, and three high, and consequently of a rectangular form. It is remarkable that these are exactly the dimensions of the Altar of Burnt-offering, whilst the name Laver is given to this brazen scaffold. Solomon kneeled down on its summit, and spreading forth his hands towards heaven, uttered that beautiful prayer for blessing upon Israel in connection with the temple. May it not be hereby intimated that the Altar and Laver are but one vessel, cleansing and acceptance being derived from the same source? And is not a time here pre-shadowed when the King and Priest shall, by virtue of His own blessed work, as the basis of His exaltation in glory, call down, with uplifted hands, blessings from heaven upon the head of His ancient people?
The shape of the Altar would have been preserved in the drawing of the Laver, had it not been thought that some confusion between the two might have resulted; and, accordingly, an hexagonal form has been substituted. The "foot" or "base" is represented by the stand on which the vessel containing the water rests.