Laver

The laver (Hebrew kiyor) in the tabernacle was a large bronze basin standing between the altar of burnt offering and the entrance to the tent of meeting, filled with water for the priests to wash their hands and feet before performing sacred service (Ex. 30:17–21). God stipulated that failure to wash would result in death (Ex. 30:20–21), marking ritual cleanliness as essential to priestly access to the holy. Solomon's temple featured ten ornate lavers mounted on wheeled bronze stands in addition to the great bronze "sea" (1 Kgs. 7:27–39). In the New Testament the laver is read typologically as pointing to baptism and the cleansing of the Word (Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5).