The tabernacle was not an empty shell that merely served as God’s dwelling place; it had accessory furnishings on the outside and also furnishings as its contents on the inside. The furnishings inside and outside the tabernacle are types of the contents of the New Testament.
Outside the tabernacle there were two articles of accessory furnishings, one being the bronze laver and the other, the bronze altar.
According to the arrangement of the furniture of the tabernacle, in location the laver was after the altar, but in function the laver was before the altar. Unless the priests first washed in the laver, they could not minister in the outer court nor in the tabernacle, and there would be no way for the operation of the tabernacle to be brought forth.
In typology bronze signifies God’s judgment. The bronze laver typifies the Holy Spirit given based on the judgment at the cross. On the cross God judged our sin in the flesh of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 8:3). Based on this judgment, God gave us the Holy Spirit for our washing (Titus 3:5).
The laver was made not merely of bronze but of the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting (Exo. 38:8). Bronze mirrors were used to reflect man’s true condition. Since the laver was made of bronze mirrors, it implies that the entire laver was a bronze mirror to reflect, expose, and cleanse people. This signifies that the Holy Spirit as the judging Spirit has the power to reflect and expose, making manifest the sins and defilements of people and then washing people (Titus 3:5).
Before the priests entered the tabernacle or approached the altar to minister, they had to wash their hands and their feet in the laver so that they would not die (Exo. 30:19-20). This signifies that before we believers, as the New Testament priests, serve God by Christ and His cross, we must wash away the defilements that come from our contact with earthly people, things, and matters, in the Holy Spirit of God’s judgment. If we remain in these defilements, we cannot serve God, we cannot pray, and we cannot function in the meetings. We need to be washed and renewed daily by the Holy Spirit in the divine element (Titus 3:5) that we may become a new creation with the divine nature to serve God in the divine life for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy.
According to the arrangement of the furniture, in position the bronze altar was before all the other furnishings. Furthermore, this altar, which was five cubits in length and width and three cubits in height, was the largest item of the tabernacle and could contain all the other furnishings and utensils. This indicates that the bronze altar is the beginning of all spiritual experiences and that it implies all other spiritual experiences.