The Brazen Laver.

We next approach the Laver, of which neither size nor shape are given (30:18-21). This is the last vessel named, the first mentioned is the Ark. The Laver was made wholly of brass. There was no brass in the Tabernacle.
Gold inside, brass outside. Divine righteousness in the sanctuary; Divine righteousness according to human responsibility outside the sanctuary. The Laver does not seem to have been covered in preparation for the journeys of the wilderness; all the other vessels were. Its omission in this connection is significant (Num. 4:1-141And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, 3From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation. 4This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: 5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it: 6And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. 7And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon: 8And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. 9And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it: 10And they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put it upon a bar. 11And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put to the staves thereof: 12And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of badgers' skins, and shall put them on a bar: 13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon: 14And they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basons, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers' skins, and put to the staves of it. (Numbers 4:1‑14)). Christ in His life down here in ABSOLUTE HOLINESS is a fact. Covered? Never. He ever lived in the sight of God, of angels, of men. His life in all its wondrous detail lay open to all. It was never a covered life, whether at rest or journeying. His Person inscrutable, His life open and transparent to all.
In the Temple there were ten Lavers of brass, each resting on its own base. Each Laver was six feet in length and breadth and four-and-a-half feet in height. Five of the Lavers were placed north and five south. Then there was constructed a “molten sea” of huge size (1 Kings 7:23-3923And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 24And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 25It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths. 27And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it. 28And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges: 29And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 30And every base had four brazen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition. 31And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round. 32And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit. 33And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten. 34And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself. 35And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same. 36For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about. 37After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size. 38Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one laver. 39And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over against the south. (1 Kings 7:23‑39)).
The use and place of the Laver in the Court are highly significant. It was made of the polished brazen-mirrors of the women of Israel; they, as well as the men, had right and privilege to assemble in the Court and enjoy and profit by the privileges which it afforded (Exod. 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)). The Laver was filled with water, in which the priests washed hands and feet before ministering at the Altar or in the Tabernacle. It was a fitting act, therefore, in those women to part with those natural looking-glasses where beauty and self were rated at each one’s own value, for God’s one and only true looking-glass for one and all―the Word of God (James 1:23-2523For 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: 24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25But 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. (James 1:23‑25)). The Laver was for the practical purification of God’s priests. It was the means of purification for communion with God and of service for Him. Hands and feet―acts and ways―must be kept clean for sanctuary service. “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord,” and so imperative was the command for ceremonial purity on the part of God’s priests and ministers of old, that the penalty of death was annexed to any neglect of it (chap. 30:17-21).
The Laver was filled with water, not with blood. Blood on the Altar — water in the Laver. The daily cleansing of our walk and ways is by the practical application of the Word to the soiled conscience. There was blood on and at the Altar. It was water which filled the Laver. The Altar was for the sinner. The Laver for the priests, and this latter, all believers are in this dispensation (Heb. 10:2222Let 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. (Hebrews 10:22); 1 Pet. 2:5, 95Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)
9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)). Now the Altar was first approached, and Divine teaching (typical) learned there as to the meaning, value, and application of the blood. There the sinner was forgiven, and there he was accepted on the ground of the atoning sacrifice. But as a priest and for sanctuary-service, the Laver was indispensable. The priests were washed all over once, an act never repeated, but the practical cleansing by the water in the Laver was daily, constantly needful.
Christ as revealed in the Word, is the measure of our practical cleansing. Christ in Whom too, the Word is embodied is the standard of daily walk for a believer. But who can estimate at its value that infinite purity―inward and outward―in nature and life―of Him Who was the Brazen Laver, with its foot on a sin stained earth, yet remained alone in absolute holiness?
“His life was pure, without a spot, And all His nature clean.”
Hence the Laver has no measurements, we are simply informed of the place it occupied―between the Altar and the Tabernacle; the material of which it was made―brass; and the use to which it was appointed― the purification of the priests. The Lord no doubt alluded to the Laver in His significant action recorded in John 13. as He does, without doubt, to the Temple in chapter 14.
The Brazen Altar and Brazen Laver both speak of the searching character of Divine judgment, whether it be of the sins of the sinner (the Altar), or the failure of the believer (the Laver). The Altar is sin judged by the Cross. The Laver is sin judged by the Word of God. Practical holiness, the maintenance of a good conscience by saint and minister, is absolutely essential for the enjoyment of communion with God, for worship in the heavenlies, and for service in the Church and in the world. The Laver is Christ viewed as a Divine person here below. It was made wholly of Brass―no shittim-wood. The water is the Word directing us to Him. The Laver was not measured, so Christ is the absolute measureless standard of holiness for His priests, His people. The Altar (the Cross) having done its work in perfecting the conscience forever (Heb. 10:1414For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)) there can be no return to it save as a worshipper. To the Laver there is. The practical purification of our walk and conduct, was never more needful than now, when a correct creed or no creed is insisted upon, and loose walk and ways regarded as of little account.