The Laver of Bronze Exposes us and our Need to be Washed by the Life-Giving Spirit

The laver of bronze is one of the items in the tabernacle that is not that much spoken of, but it is an indispensable and vital piece of furnishing that is necessary to experience in order for us to have a proper Christian experience. In order for the priests to enter into the tabernacle and serve before God, first of all they had to wash their hands and their feet in the laver of bronze.

The laver of bronze with clean water signifies the washing of the life-giving Spirit. We all desperately need the constant washing of the divine life to be priests functioning for God’s building and to be cooperating with the Lord for the enlargement of His building!

This is an ongoing process: we need to constantly be in the WASHing of the life-giving Spirit, the washing of Christ as the divine life, so that we may function as priests in a normal way.

We need to be those always exercising their spirit to be one with the Lord, practicing the application of this life by minding just the Son of God, and allowing the Spirit to wash us, renew us, and reconstitute us for God’s building.

The Laver of Bronze typifies the Washing Power of the Life-Giving Spirit issuing from Christ’s Death

We need to see what is the spiritual significance of the laver of bronze. First of all, this laver was made of bronze; more specifically, it was made from the bronze of the mirrors of the serving women at the entrance of the tabernacle (see Exo. 30:17-21).

The position of the laver was between the altar of burnt offering and the tabernacle; this signifies that, after passing through God’s full judgement on the cross (the reality of the altar), Christ entered into resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit who washes us (1 Cor. 15:45; 6:11; Titus 3:5).

The laver typifies the washing power of the life-giving Spirit issuing from the death of Christ, and the fact that the dimensions of the laver are not given shows that this life-giving Spirit which washes us is immeasurable, unlimited (John 3:34).

Christ died not only to redeem us but also to release His life; through His death we can experience His judicial redemption and we’re justified according to God’s standard of righteousness, and we are brought into His resurrection to enjoy Him as the life-giving Spirit and be much more saved organically in His life.

Now through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is able to make us Him in life and nature.

The locating of the laver after the altar signifies that the washing power of the laver comes out of God’s judgement at the altar; Christ’s judicial redemption is the means for Him to release the washing power of His divine life for His organic salvation.

This washing is not the washing of the blood of Christ; yes, we do need to be washed by the Lord’s blood so that we may be cleansed and have the sin removed, but we also have other defilement of the world, which need to be washed by the life-giving Spirit, the flowing living water.

Christ regenerated us in our spirit, and now He is washing us all the time! Apart from the Lord, we are like little serpents – full of sin and of death, but when we turn to the Lord and allow Him to wash us and fill us with the life-giving Spirit, we are being cleansed, remade, reconstituted, reconditioned, transformed, and beautified to become the bride of Christ (John 3)!

Only God in Christ can obtain a bride for Himself out of serpentine fallen sinners, and He does so by our opening to Him all the time to remain in this constant washing so that we may not only be cleansed and sanctified but also remodelled, reconditioned, and transformed and beautified to be His spotless beautiful bride!

Lord, thank You for dying for us to redeem us and for becoming the life-giving Spirit to wash us from any defilement of the earthly things! Oh Lord, we want to experience the continual washing of the life-giving Spirit so that any defilement would be removed, and so that we would be reconstituted, remodelled, and beautified to be the bride of Christ! Lord, we trust in the washing power of the life-giving Spirit issuing from the death of Christ: this Spirit can wash us, transform us, and fully save us in life!

Being Exposed of our Uncleanness and our Need to be Washed by the Life-giving Spirit

It is very interesting to notice that the bronze used to make the laver came from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, which implies that the laver of bronze was like a mirror that could reflect and expose (Exo. 38:8). In other words, when the priests would come to the laver, the were exposed of their uncleanness and defilement, and so they washed and were cleansed.

When we touch the Lord and He as the Spirit shines on us, we realize how defiled and dirty we are, and we realize our need to be washed by the life-giving Spirit. Sometimes a parent may tell the child to wash his face because he’s dirty, but the child may not believe his parent; when a child is put in front of the mirror, however, and realizes how dirty he is, he will wash immediately.

The Holy Spirit is working in us to expose us and show us how dirty we are, and we realize how much we need His cleansing from all our pollution and defilement. Hallelujah, the judgement suffered by Christ on the cross has the power to expose our uncleanness and our need to be washed!

Based on His judicial redemption (signified by the altar of burnt offering) we are brought to the enjoyment of the washing of the wonderful life-giving Spirit water, so that we may be enabled to cooperate with the Lord in the experience of every aspect of the tabernacle, to the point that we enter into the Holy of Holies!

Without this laver of bronze, the priests could not function in any part of the tabernacle; first they had to be washed and cleansed at the laver, and then they could minister to God. Without the washing of Christ as the life-giving Spirit, nothing in the tabernacle can be experienced by us.

Rather, if we are not continually washed by the life-giving Spirit, we may experience spiritual death, that is, the deadness of our natural man with its defilement.

Our service always needs to be in the flowing water of the life-giving Spirit, otherwise it can issue in the waters of death; we need to serve God in our spirit (Rom. 1:9), in the flowing and washing of the laver of bronze, so that our serving would be a cooperating with the Lord for the fulfillment of His economy!

How does the Lord washes us as the life-giving Spirit? It is by speaking to us! He is the life-giving speaking Spirit, and every time we go along with His speaking, we enjoy His cleansing, we are supplied, and we can face anything and can go through anything.

The washing of the laver signifies not the washing away of sin by the blood of Christ but the washing away of the defilement that comes from contacting earthly things by the life-giving Spirit (1 John 1:7; John 13:5).

May we be those who pay the price to daily walk in the spirit and live in the spirit so that we may be washed by the life-giving Spirit with our spirit!

Lord Jesus, thank You for being faithful to shine on us and expose us of our uncleanness and defilement. Lord, how we need to be washed, cleansed, supplied, and reconstituted by the life-giving Spirit! Keep us open to Your speaking. May we go along with Your speaking so that we would experience more washing. We want to cooperate with You and allow You to be our life and person so that we may enjoy Your cleansing, washing, supplying, and filling. Hallelujah, when we are washed and supplied by the life-giving Spirit we are happy and nothing bothers us!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, msg. 156 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 7 (week 31), The Laver of Bronze.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # Thy washing keeps us always clean, / In function like the laver; / Thus we are kept in fellowship, / Partaking of Thy favor. (Hymns #187)
  # Cleanse and comfort, bless and save me; / Fill my broken spirit now! / Thou art comforting and saving, / Thou art sweetly filling now. (Hymns #267)
  # Lord, we would our every thought be captured / By the rich enjoyment in Your Word. / In it we’re supplied, our mind there will abide, / Till our thoughts are wholly sanctified. (Hymns #1193)