And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and shall put water therein.
- BSB And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- NKJV And you shall set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- NASB Then you shall set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- NLT Set the washbasin 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
Moses was to place the basin between the tent and the altar and fill it with water. Provision was made for the priests' cleansing.
Overview
The bronze basin stood between the altar of sacrifice and the tent, holding water for the priests to wash before serving. It signified that those who minister before God must be cleansed, not only atoned for. This pictures the washing of regeneration and the cleansing by God's word that prepare believers, made priests in Christ, for holy service (Titus 3:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Heb 10:22Let 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.
- Ps 26:6I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
- Zech 13:1In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
- Titus 3:5Not 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;
- Exod 40:30–32And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
- Exod 30:18–21Thou 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.
- Exod 38:8And 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.
- Rev 1:5–6And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
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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 40:7 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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