The Wash House
The Lord spoke unto Moses saying make a laver of brass and its foot also of brass to wash withal: and you shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and you shalt put water therein. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet there at. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation they shall wash with water that they die not, or when they come near to the altar to minister, or to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: so they shall wash their hands and their feet that they die not. And it shall be a stature forever to them even to him and to his seed throughout their generations (Exodus 30:17-21).
Bezaaleel made the laver of brass and the foot of it of brass from the looking glasses of the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation (Exodus 30:17-21). Thou shall anoint the laver and its foot and sanctify it. Thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and wash them with water. Thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him: that he may minister unto me the priests office (Exodus 40:11-14). The Laver shall be set between the tent of the congregation and the altar and shalt put water therein to wash there in.
Paul said we all with honesty behold the face of God through looking at Him in the Word of God (II Cor3:18). Paul was saying the Word of God is as a mirror. The laver was made from the looking glasses of the women of Israel. Polished brass was used to see our image. They filled the laver with water to wash in. When looking into the laver the water not only washed their hands and feet but it also reflected the images of the one washing in it. When we can see ourselves in the light of His Word we can be changed into the same image from glory to glory, or from glimpse to glimpse, or revelation to revelation.
James, the Lord’s brother, said that the importance of being earnest and being a doer of God’s Word, and not a hearer only, is like a man that beholds his natural face in a glass, or laver/mirror. He beholds himself for a moment, a very brief period, and goes his way and straight way forgets what manner of person he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein shalt not forget this person and shall surely be changed into the same image that the Word of God personifies (James 1:22-25).
The Bible states that the invisible things from creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Do not even the heavens declare His handy work (Romans 1:20)? Has thou spread out the sky as a looking glass teaching us what we can know of Him? For we cannot order our speech by reason of the darkness. God’s Word is wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, might, reverence, and truth. The priest walked on a dirt floor and the laver was set between the brazen altar and the tent of meeting. They were to wash coming and going. Their hands were their service, their work. God wanted their work and service to be clean. Their feet speaks of their walk, remembering the unclean world were in. God wants us to keeping washing by his word. He wants us to be presented as a glorious church, holy without blemish, sanctified and cleansed by the washing of the Word. ( Eph 5:25-29).
When I was a child my great grandmother would draw water out of a well pouring it into two iron pots to heat. The iron pots had little feet so that you could build a fire under them. After the water was heated she would draw out and mix it with lukewarm water into two washtubs then she would wash our clothes. During the week I would have a wash-pan bath. That’s when you use a washcloth and soap and wash your body using a wash pan. On the weekend, Saturday, I would be able to get into one of the washtubs and take a real bath. A bath that you would get submerged in water, a real bath. A wash house bath.
I think we go to church, we pray, we read the Bible, and we get a sponge bath, or a wash pan bath. But then every once in a while the Lord really pours it out on us and we get a wash house bath. He causes a deep cleanse to take place. Now today the old washhouse is gone, along with my great grandmother. The iron pots are still around and the memory of that time is still here within me. There is a church where the old wash house once stood, the well that was there is covered over. Now there is a well of God’s Spirit springing up and people are still being washed by the water of God’s Word. That church is the Upper Room and that well is the Spirit of the Living God. The water is the Word of the cleansing God. Many have entered that wash house, some get a wash pan bath, but every once in a while one will get a real bath.
