“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 in it,
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it,
- NASB “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.
- NLT “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands a bronze basin for washing, placed between the tent and the altar. Priests needed cleansing before they could serve.
Overview
The laver provided water for the priests to wash before ministering, situated between the place of sacrifice and the place of meeting. It taught that those who serve God must be cleansed as well as atoned for. This points to the washing of regeneration and the cleansing believers have in Christ, who washes His people clean (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 40:7And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- Exod 38:8Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Kgs 7:23He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
- Exod 40:30–32He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing;
- 1 Kgs 7:38He also made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin for each of the ten stands.
- 2 Chr 4:14–15the stands; the basins on the stands;
- 2 Chr 4:2He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
- Titus 3:5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- 2 Chr 4:6He also made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the priests used the Sea for washing.
- Lev 8:11He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.
- Zech 13:1“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
- Exod 31:9the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand—
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 30:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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