Laver

Biblical Text

The laver first appears in Exodus 30:17-21. God commands Moses to make a laver of bronze with its base. The laver was to be placed between the tent of meeting (the tent where God met with His people) and the altar, and it was to be filled with water. Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet with this water whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar to minister. The text says they were to do so "that they die not," and it establishes this practice as a statute to be kept throughout their generations.

Exodus 38:8 records that the laver and its base were made from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting. Exodus 40:30-32 records that after the tabernacle was set up, the laver was placed between the tent of meeting and the altar, and Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed with its water. According to Exodus 30:28 and 40:11 and Leviticus 8:11, the laver and its base, along with the other tabernacle furnishings, were consecrated with the anointing oil (oil used to set things apart as holy).

Background

The Korean term for the laver, muldumeong, is built on dumeong, a word for a large cauldron or jar in which drawn water is stored for use. The Hebrew term is kiyyor, meaning a vessel such as a basin or pot. Exodus does not give the laver's size or shape, so the forms depicted in illustrations and models are largely later conjectures.

The Temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon had washing vessels on a larger scale. According to 1 Kings 7:23-39, the temple contained a great bronze vessel called the "Sea" and ten bronze lavers set on stands. 2 Chronicles 4:6 distinguishes their uses: the burnt offerings were washed in the ten lavers, while the priests washed in the Sea. King Ahaz later altered these furnishings (2 Kings 16:17), and the Babylonian army broke up the bronze vessels of the temple and carried them away (2 Kings 25:13).

Significance Across Scripture

The laver stands within the layout of the tabernacle, which leads from the altar of burnt offering to the Most Holy Place. Because of this position, the laver conveys that anyone who draws near to the holy God must first be cleansed. No New Testament passage mentions the laver directly. However, Hebrews speaks of the "divers washings" of the old sacrificial system (Hebrews 9:10) and urges believers to draw near to God in Christ, having "our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). Many interpreters read these verses in connection with the washing at the laver.

Interpretations and Issues

Christian tradition has interpreted the laver typologically (a method that reads Old Testament institutions or objects as shadows foreshadowing Christ and the realities of the New Testament). Interpreters differ somewhat on what the laver points to:

• The washing of baptism
• Christ's cleansing of the church "with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26)
• The process of sanctification, in which those already saved are daily cleansed from sin. The foot washing of John 13:10 and the practice of foot washing are sometimes mentioned in this connection.

These interpretations should be recognized as applications made by interpreters rather than statements made directly by the text. Some sermons draw from the fact that the laver was made of mirrors the lesson of "examining oneself in the mirror of the Word" (compare James 1:23-25). Exodus 38:8, however, states only the source of the material and does not explain its meaning.

In the Korean Church

In tabernacle expositions and tabernacle seminars in Korean churches, the laver is often treated as the stage that follows the altar of burnt offering. In this context, the laver is commonly used to explain repentance, purification, and cleansing by the Word.