The baptism with water was typified by the flood that saved Noah from his evil age (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Noah was baptized in a large baptistery and experienced a very lengthy baptism. It lasted at least forty days. The number forty signifies testing. No one could have built such a large baptistery or collected so much water. The first mention of baptism in the Bible was a worldwide baptism. Our baptism must also be like that. Once you get into that kind of baptistery, there is no way out. Although it is easy for us to get out of the baptistery in the meeting hall, there was no way for Noah to get out of the baptistery used in his baptism. Noah was buried in a worldwide tomb. That was the seed of baptism. Christ's death is all-inclusive. The baptism based upon His death is worldwide, even universally wide, full of judging and burying water.
This baptism with water signifying the judging death of Christ was also typified by the waters of the Red Sea that saved the Israelites from the Egyptian age (Exo. 14:26-28). We have two types of the baptism with water: the flood and the Red Sea. First Peter 3:20-21 says that the flood through which Noah passed was a figure of the baptism that saves us, and 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 tells us that the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed was also a baptism that saved God's people from the evil power, from the enemy's slavery. All the worldly occupations, all the worldly pleasures, amusements, sports, are buried in the Red Sea of our baptism. This kind of effectual baptism in the power of the Spirit saves us from the world, from the evil age condemned and judged by God.
In addition to the types which typify baptism, we have the signs in the Bible which signify the meaning of baptism. Baptism was signified by the laver of the tabernacle (Exo. 30:18-21). In front of the tabernacle was the laver. The area outside the separating line of the tabernacle represented the world. Suppose a person was coming out of the world and wanted to be a priest and get into the presence of God within the tabernacle. Firstly, he had to pass through the altar, signifying the cross of Christ. On the altar, the offerings for sins were presented. After passing through the altar, his sins were dealt with and he was saved. Many Christians think that after passing through the altar he could have immediately entered into the holy place within the tabernacle. However, he could not move that fast, for after passing through the altar he needed the washing of the laver. The laver did not eliminate his sins. His sins were dealt with at the altar already. The laver dealt with his dirt from the earth. Since the dirt of the earth was still upon him, he needed to be washed. The washing of the laver removed this dirt. The blood was at the altar, not at the laver. After his sins had been dealt with at the altar and after the earthly dirt had been washed away at the laver, then he could enter into the holy place and come into the presence of God.
Many Christians do not have the way to come into God's presence. True, they have been saved at the cross, but to their realization there is still a separation, a barrier, that frustrates them from entering into God's presence. What is this? It is the dirt of the world. They lack the washing of the laver to remove their dirt of the world. In other words, their sins have been dealt with on the cross, but their world has not been buried beneath the Red Sea. The laver is a sign of baptism, the flood, and the Red Sea.