The Old Testament Tabernacle : Lesson #3

The Brass Laver and the Framework

In the previous lesson we saw that the Brazen Altar was the first thing someone would see when entering the court of the Tabernacle. The Brazen Altar is a picture of God’s judgment on sin and God’s punishment on sin which is Hell and the Lake of Fire. So, in type the first thing that a person has to do when coming to God is to deal with the problem of sin.

In this lesson we are going to take up our tour of the Tabernacle with the Brass Laver which is positioned between the Brazen Altar and the Tabernacle of the congregation. The Tabernacle of congregation is the part of the Tabernacle is covered. It is 30 cubits long by 10 cubits wide. It is divided into two sections called the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. It is important not to confuse it with the Tabernacle itself. Remember that the Tabernacle itself includes everything from the Tabernacle of the Congregation to the Brass Laver to the Brazen Altar and to the Court.

The Brass Laver: (Exodus 30:17-21 & Exodus 38:8)

 The Laver was made out of Brass and according to Exodus 38:8 it had looking glasses associated with its construction somehow. Now it was placed between the Brazen Altar and the Tabernacle of the congregation so that the priest could wash their hands and their feet before entering the Tabernacle of Congregation. Note that in the passage if they did not wash before entering, they would die. When it comes to worshipping and serving God, he is very serious about serving and worshipping in the order that he has given.

The typology of the Brass Laver:

 The Brass Laver is a type of the word of God in many aspects. Note that no dimensions were given for the Brass Laver. According to 2 Timothy 2:9 the word of God is not bound.

The position of the Brass Laver is also important because it is placed after the Brazen Altar but before the Tabernacle of Congregation. After salvation we still sin and are exposed to the filth of this old world and need to get clean. Now we are not talking about losing salvation and getting saved again, we are talking about getting sin out of our lives so we can serve God like he wants us to. The word of God is what cleans us after we are saved (Psalms 119:9-11 ; Ephesians 5:26) This matches in type the fact that the priest had to wash before they could serve. We need to be exposed to the word of God to get some things out of our lives so that we can serve God.

The Brass Laver also had looking glasses in it and the Bible says in James that when a man is a hearer of the word and not a doer of the word, he is like a man that beholds himself in a glass and then goes his way doing nothing about what he saw (James 1:22-25). Therefore, after salvation when a person starts to read and be exposed to the word of God, he will see things that he is doing that are wrong according to the word of God and he will either change them or he will ignore the word of God.

Also, it was said that if a priest did not wash, he would die. If we don’t read the word of God after salvation, we can die in a spiritual sense. Once again this is not talking about losing salvation it is talking about starving the inner man until he is so weak that he cannot serve God.

The Framework of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: (Exodus 26)

 The details are laid out for the framing of the Tabernacle of the Congregation in Exodus chapter 26. As we stated earlier it is 30 cubits long by 10 cubits wide. It is made of boards of shittim wood that are overlaid with gold. It is covered with skins. It has one gate that the priest could enter into, and it is divided into two compartments. The two compartments are called the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place. These were separated by the Vail. As we will see in later lesson inside the Most Holy Place is where the Ark of the Covenant was that had the mercy seat and the cherubim on top of it. The Holy Place held the Table of Showbread, the Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense.

Some of the typology that we can see in the framework: 

 In the framework of the Tabernacle of the Congregation we see some types of the Lord Jesus Christ. If one was to look at the outside all you could see is the skins that covered it and it would not look like much. That is what is said about the Lord Jesus Christ at his first coming he was without form or comeliness (Isaiah 53:1-2). But once you look on the inside of the Tabernacle of Congregation you could see how glorious it was with all that gold. Remember everything on the inside of it was made of gold or covered with gold. Can you imagine what this thing looked like on the inside?

This is exactly the way it is with salvation. Before a person is saved, they look at salvation and being in Jesus Christ as being dull or boring. But after a person is saved and can experience the peace and joy and learn about all the blessing that come with being in Jesus Christ you cannot understand why anyone would not want to be saved.

There was only one gate that led into the Tabernacle of the Congregation this speaks of Jesus Christ also because he is the only way to be saved and go to Heaven (John 14:6 ; 1 Timothy 2:5) Note also that this gate is said to have 5 pillars, remember that the number 5 is connected with death and it is only through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ; Romans 5:8)

Therefore, we are seeing that the tabernacle has many wonderful types found in it concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation.

The Old Testament Tabernacle : Lesson #3 Handout

The Brass Laver and the Framework

1)  What are the materials for the Brass Laver?

2)  Where is the Brass Laver positioned in regards to the tabernacle and what is its purpose?

3)  What is the typology that we see in the Brass Laver?

4)  Why is it significant that there are no dimensions for the Brass Laver? Give references.

5)  What are the dimensions for the tabernacle of the congregation and what are the two different sections of the tabernacle of the congregation?

6)  What is some of the typology that we can see in the framework of the tabernacle the congregation?

7)  What is the typology that can be seen in the gate of the tabernacle of the congregation?