What is a laver in the Bible?

Answer

A laver is a basin for water or for cooking “and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.”, (1 Samuel 2:14). A laver was used in the tabernacle and later in the temple to hold water for priests in ceremonial cleansings. The tabernacle laver was made of bronze and molded to God’s specifications. In Exodus 30:17–21, God gave instructions for the laver: “You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water into it, with which Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made by fire to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die. Thus they are to wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this shall be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

The first laver was made from the metal mirrors the Israelite women brought with them from Egypt “And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”, (Exodus 38:8). God instructed Moses to place the laver between the altar and the tabernacle door. The priests were to wash their hands and their feet with water from the laver before approaching the Holy Place to symbolize the necessity of purifying oneself before approaching a holy God.

When Solomon built the first temple, he included ten lavers: five on the north side of the courtyard and five on the south. All wereUsed for rinsing the articles used in the sacrifices, «He also made ten lavers, and placed five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.», (2 Chronicles 4:6). However, for the ceremonial bathing of the priests, Solomon constructed a large, ornate bronze laver called “the Sea” (2 Chronicles 4:1-5). Interestingly, no lavers are mentioned in the second temple built by Zerubbabel in 516 BC.

Everything in the tabernacle and, later, the temple was symbolic of God’s relationship with man. The laver symbolized our need for cleansing before we can enter into a relationship with a pure and holy God. God sent His Son into the world “to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” «for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.», (Hebrews 9:26), and He declared that faith in Him would purify us «not 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;», (Titus 3:5). To keep us spiritually clean, God uses His Word to wash us (Ephesians 5:26;1 John 1:7). We no longer need temples or lavers to meet with God. Our bodies become His temple when we repent and submit to the lordship of Jesus (Acts 2:38;1 Corinthians 6:19). More than the water fr

On any level, the blood of Christ purifies us and makes us deserving to enter the presence of the Lord.