Clean

God’s directions were thorough. His people might have been in a wilderness, with no permanent homes. But He gave them specific commands about what they were to do the days they were to celebrate, the structures they were to build, and how they were to build them.

His directions were important because they conveyed deep, spiritual principles. We see this truth in His command about a laver. With great detail, He described how this laver was to be made. It was to be used by priests who were to wash their hands before offering sacrifices.

The laver performed an important role in Old Testament life (in the tabernacle and later the temple). But it also was an important teaching tool, symbolizing how people were to come into His presence.

The fact is that God is holy and cannot tolerate sin. Yet the Bible makes clear that all of us are sinners (Romans 3:23). So how do sinful people approach a holy God? The answer? We first need to be washed and clean. This is the process symbolized by the laver.

The Bible tells us that we are to come into His presence with “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:4). This means searching our hearts and minds. Examining our lives and the things we have done. Our words and thoughts. And being washed of our sins.

We can be confident, for the Bible promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

As we are clean, we can “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” We can “be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100:4). For we are free and forgiven, ready to enter His presence.