And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
Moses was commanded to anoint the laver and its base with oil and sanctify it, setting it apart as holy for sacred use in the tabernacle service and not for ordinary use. The laver held water for the priests' use, and stood outside before the door of the tabernacle with the altar of burnt offering when the tabernacle was reared up and finished. This anointing was part of the initial consecration and inauguration of the sanctuary, performed preparatory to the commencement of ministration before the priesthood began its work. It is the type and pattern for the preparatory consecration of the true, heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers as High Priest, which is the anointing of the Most Holy in Daniel 9:24 that took place when Jesus ascended on high in A.D. 33. The earthly anointing covered the whole building, both the holy place and the holiest with all the sacred vessels, and ministration began immediately afterward in the first apartment; therefore the anointing of the heavenly most holy at the commencement of Christ's ministration supports His ministry in both holy places beginning in the first.
Command and Tabernacle Setting
The command was for Moses to anoint the laver and its foot or base with oil and to sanctify it, setting it apart as holy for sacred use in the tabernacle service. This anointing made the laver and its base holy and not for ordinary use, preparing the sanctuary and its vessels for service at its initial consecration and inauguration rather than as a yearly rededication with blood. When the sanctuary and its services were completed as directed, God's glory appeared, blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the building, and this showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
The laver was of brass and stood outside before the door of the tabernacle together with the altar of burnt offering, both enclosed with the tabernacle by the court with its curtains of fine twined linen. The laver with its foot stood before the door beside the altar of burnt offering within that court, and the altar stood before its entrance with the sacred furnishings set in their appointed places.
It was put in its place when the tabernacle was reared up on the first day of the first month in the second year after Israel departed from Egypt. This followed Moses arranging the ark, the testimony in the ark, the mercy-seat, the vail, the table of shewbread, the candlestick with its lighted lamps, the golden altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with the burnt offering and meat offering. The dimensions, material, and furnishings were made exactly according to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount, the work was done as God directed, and when the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The setting up of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, including placing the showbread, does not prove that day was the weekly Sabbath. The command to set out the showbread every Sabbath was given later.
Consecration for Sacred Service
By anointing with oil the laver and its base or foot were made holy, set apart for God's service and not for ordinary use. The laver held water for the priests' use in the sanctuary service, and it was to be anointed and set apart as holy for that service.
This anointing was part of the tabernacle's initial consecration and inauguration, not a yearly rededication with blood. The work of the sanctuary was carried out as God directed, and when it was completed blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the building. When the sanctuary and its services were completed, God's glory appeared and showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
The laver and its base had to be anointed and made holy before sanctuary service began, since the anointing of the sanctuary preceded its ministry as required by the law and its type. Before its service began the sanctuary was consecrated by anointing its holy places and sacred vessels, including the laver and its base, and the anointing of the most holy was a preparatory act for the sanctuary's ministration. The laver and its base were anointed with oil and set apart for the sanctuary service before the priestly ministration began.
Pattern of Heavenly Anointing
The anointing of the laver and its foot belonged to the consecration of the whole earthly tabernacle, both its holy places and all its sacred vessels, set apart as holy before any sanctuary service began. That preparatory anointing took place before the Levitical priesthood began its work and marked the commencement of ministration in the earthly sanctuary. It was the type and pattern for the preparatory consecration of the true sanctuary in heaven, which Christ entered after leaving earth to minister there as High Priest. The heavenly sanctuary thus took the place of the earthly pattern, and its consecration likewise preceded the beginning of its ministration.
That heavenly anointing is the anointing of the Most Holy foretold in Daniel 9:24. It applies to the true tabernacle in heaven and not to the earthly sanctuary made with hands. It took place when Jesus ascended on high in A.D. 33, preparatory to Christ ministering therein. It was the last event of the seventy weeks cut off upon Jerusalem, occurring near or about their close. As Moses and Aaron anointed and prepared the earthly pattern, so Christ as High Priest does in the heavenly sanctuary.
The anointing of the Most Holy therefore means the anointing of the heavenly sanctuary, either alone or together with Christ's own anointing as He entered upon His everlasting priesthood. The earthly anointing covered the entire building, both the holy place and the holiest, with all the sacred vessels, and not the most holy place alone. When that anointing was accomplished, ministration began immediately afterward in the first apartment and not in the most holy place. That order was the example and shadow of heavenly things, so the anointing of the heavenly most holy at the commencement of Christ's ministration does not prove He ministers only in the second apartment but supports His ministry in both holy places beginning in the first.
This dedication of the earthly sanctuary and priesthood serves as the pattern for the consecration of the heavenly sanctuary and priesthood when Christ began His ministry there. That ministry aims to put away sin and proceeds toward the final work of judgment. Even as the earthly priest's service looked ahead to the yearly judgment, Christ's ministry likewise looks toward the judgment at its close.
Law and Sanctuary System
The command to anoint the laver and its foot and sanctify it belongs to the law of Moses commanded through Moses in Horeb with the statutes and judgments. It stands among the moral, ceremonial, civil and health laws, with the Ten Commandments and the laws of offerings, sacrifices and types that reveal the shadows from which the substance of the new dispensation is traced. Those laws are set forth in Exodus 20 to 40 and Leviticus, which God calls His people in the last days to remember.
It stands in the worship division of Exodus, chapters 25 to 40, in the book named from the Greek for the going out, about the departure of Israel from Egypt. Exodus opens with Israel grown more and mightier than the Egyptians yet in bitter bondage and oppression, relates their great deliverance, and shows how they became a nation. That nationhood came with thorough organization, efficient leadership under Moses from his rescue in infancy onward, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship to which this anointing and sanctifying belongs. It belongs to the instructions for regulating Israel's worship, distinct from the civil laws in Exodus 21-23, directing that the laver and its base be anointed and made holy for sacred use. It belongs also to the account of the sanctuary's building and setting up which followed God's instructions to Moses in the mount, to the building instructions and particulars for the sanctuary that God told Israel to build so He might dwell among them.
The wilderness tabernacle was built by Israel at God's command so He might dwell among them, as the center of earthly worship which revolved around the holy of holies where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. It was a marvelously beautiful structure made from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God, with its dimensions, material and furnishings made exactly according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount. This is the Exodus 25 to 40 account of the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out from Egypt and commanded them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them. When the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. That earthly sanctuary with its priests, rites and ceremonies was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things and pointing to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world and His power to forgive sin, transform the character and deliver from burdens, until with the death of Christ and His sacrifice at Calvary the veil of the temple was rent and the typical earthly sanctuary passed away entirely and forever.
The tabernacle and its furnishings were object lessons in spiritual truths, and the sanctuary was a great multiple object-lesson of the plan of salvation given after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand. Hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required, so its teaching comprehended by various forms and rites the great plan of salvation. Its ceremonial service taught sinners how to approach God and pointed forward to the real atonement in Christ, for the tabernacle was a type of the heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers and its service was a type of His service there. The laver belonged to that earthly sanctuary and was set apart as part of its ceremonial service by this anointing and sanctification. The explicit instructions for making Him a sanctuary or dwelling place were given after God led Israel out of Egypt so He might dwell among them to reveal more fully His great love in unfolding the plan of redemption, whereas from Eden to the Exodus approach to God was very simple by offering a lamb for sin upon an altar of rough stones with the father of each family acting as priest or mediator between his family and God.
Ministry Order and Application
The sanctification of the wilderness tabernacle was performed entirely by Moses in the presence of Aaron and his sons, as shown in Exodus 40:9-15. This was the due order for consecrating the sanctuary, with the national leader taking the leading part in everything, even in things supposed to belong exclusively to the priests. It explains and justifies Solomon taking the leading part in everything at the dedication of the temple, exhorting, sacrificing, praying, consecrating the temple, and blessing the people while the high priest is not noticed. In this Solomon continued the union of king and priest in his own person after the example of David his father.
The direction to anoint and sanctify the laver stands among the commands concerning practices described as perpetual in Exodus 40:1-16, yet it belongs to the Jewish ceremonial system whose types and shadows reached their end in Christ. That earthly sanctuary was the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out of Egypt and commanded them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them, with its dimensions, material, and furnishings made exactly according to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount. When the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. With its priests, rites, and ceremonies it was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things and pointing to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and His power to forgive sin, transform the character, and deliver from burdens. At the death of Christ and His sacrifice at Calvary the veil of the temple was rent and the typical earthly sanctuary passed away entirely and forever, unlike the seventh-day Sabbath, which is not a type and continues without end.
The ministration commenced by Moses when he brought the Ten Commandments down was carried forward through the entire Old Testament period while the typical sanctuary should continue. Moses placed the two tables in the ark and placed the ark in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary, and set apart the Levitical priesthood to minister before that ark. To sinful people that ministration was only condemnation and death, because it could only show guilt and exposure to the just penalty of the law and contained in itself no promise of pardon. Yet it was so glorious that its minister had to veil his face.
Moses was commanded to anoint the laver and its base with oil and sanctify it, setting it apart as holy for sacred use in the tabernacle service and not for ordinary use. The laver held water for the priests' use, and stood outside before the door of the tabernacle with the altar of burnt offering when the tabernacle was reared up and finished. This anointing was part of the initial consecration and inauguration of the sanctuary, performed preparatory to the commencement of ministration before the priesthood began its work. It is the type and pattern for the preparatory consecration of the true, heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers as High Priest, which is the anointing of the Most Holy in Daniel 9:24 that took place when Jesus ascended on high in A.D. 33. The earthly anointing covered the whole building, both the holy place and the holiest with all the sacred vessels, and ministration began immediately afterward in the first apartment; therefore the anointing of the heavenly most holy at the commencement of Christ's ministration supports His ministry in both holy places beginning in the first.
Command and Tabernacle Setting
The command was for Moses to anoint the laver and its foot or base with oil and to sanctify it, setting it apart as holy for sacred use in the tabernacle service. This anointing made the laver and its base holy and not for ordinary use, preparing the sanctuary and its vessels for service at its initial consecration and inauguration rather than as a yearly rededication with blood. When the sanctuary and its services were completed as directed, God's glory appeared, blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the building, and this showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
The laver was of brass and stood outside before the door of the tabernacle together with the altar of burnt offering, both enclosed with the tabernacle by the court with its curtains of fine twined linen. The laver with its foot stood before the door beside the altar of burnt offering within that court, and the altar stood before its entrance with the sacred furnishings set in their appointed places.
It was put in its place when the tabernacle was reared up on the first day of the first month in the second year after Israel departed from Egypt. This followed Moses arranging the ark, the testimony in the ark, the mercy-seat, the vail, the table of shewbread, the candlestick with its lighted lamps, the golden altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with the burnt offering and meat offering. The dimensions, material, and furnishings were made exactly according to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount, the work was done as God directed, and when the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
The setting up of the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, including placing the showbread, does not prove that day was the weekly Sabbath. The command to set out the showbread every Sabbath was given later.
Consecration for Sacred Service
By anointing with oil the laver and its base or foot were made holy, set apart for God's service and not for ordinary use. The laver held water for the priests' use in the sanctuary service, and it was to be anointed and set apart as holy for that service.
This anointing was part of the tabernacle's initial consecration and inauguration, not a yearly rededication with blood. The work of the sanctuary was carried out as God directed, and when it was completed blessing and glory came upon the congregation and the building. When the sanctuary and its services were completed, God's glory appeared and showed His acceptance of the people's repentance.
The laver and its base had to be anointed and made holy before sanctuary service began, since the anointing of the sanctuary preceded its ministry as required by the law and its type. Before its service began the sanctuary was consecrated by anointing its holy places and sacred vessels, including the laver and its base, and the anointing of the most holy was a preparatory act for the sanctuary's ministration. The laver and its base were anointed with oil and set apart for the sanctuary service before the priestly ministration began.
Pattern of Heavenly Anointing
The anointing of the laver and its foot belonged to the consecration of the whole earthly tabernacle, both its holy places and all its sacred vessels, set apart as holy before any sanctuary service began. That preparatory anointing took place before the Levitical priesthood began its work and marked the commencement of ministration in the earthly sanctuary. It was the type and pattern for the preparatory consecration of the true sanctuary in heaven, which Christ entered after leaving earth to minister there as High Priest. The heavenly sanctuary thus took the place of the earthly pattern, and its consecration likewise preceded the beginning of its ministration.
That heavenly anointing is the anointing of the Most Holy foretold in Daniel 9:24. It applies to the true tabernacle in heaven and not to the earthly sanctuary made with hands. It took place when Jesus ascended on high in A.D. 33, preparatory to Christ ministering therein. It was the last event of the seventy weeks cut off upon Jerusalem, occurring near or about their close. As Moses and Aaron anointed and prepared the earthly pattern, so Christ as High Priest does in the heavenly sanctuary.
The anointing of the Most Holy therefore means the anointing of the heavenly sanctuary, either alone or together with Christ's own anointing as He entered upon His everlasting priesthood. The earthly anointing covered the entire building, both the holy place and the holiest, with all the sacred vessels, and not the most holy place alone. When that anointing was accomplished, ministration began immediately afterward in the first apartment and not in the most holy place. That order was the example and shadow of heavenly things, so the anointing of the heavenly most holy at the commencement of Christ's ministration does not prove He ministers only in the second apartment but supports His ministry in both holy places beginning in the first.
This dedication of the earthly sanctuary and priesthood serves as the pattern for the consecration of the heavenly sanctuary and priesthood when Christ began His ministry there. That ministry aims to put away sin and proceeds toward the final work of judgment. Even as the earthly priest's service looked ahead to the yearly judgment, Christ's ministry likewise looks toward the judgment at its close.
Law and Sanctuary System
The command to anoint the laver and its foot and sanctify it belongs to the law of Moses commanded through Moses in Horeb with the statutes and judgments. It stands among the moral, ceremonial, civil and health laws, with the Ten Commandments and the laws of offerings, sacrifices and types that reveal the shadows from which the substance of the new dispensation is traced. Those laws are set forth in Exodus 20 to 40 and Leviticus, which God calls His people in the last days to remember.
It stands in the worship division of Exodus, chapters 25 to 40, in the book named from the Greek for the going out, about the departure of Israel from Egypt. Exodus opens with Israel grown more and mightier than the Egyptians yet in bitter bondage and oppression, relates their great deliverance, and shows how they became a nation. That nationhood came with thorough organization, efficient leadership under Moses from his rescue in infancy onward, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship to which this anointing and sanctifying belongs. It belongs to the instructions for regulating Israel's worship, distinct from the civil laws in Exodus 21-23, directing that the laver and its base be anointed and made holy for sacred use. It belongs also to the account of the sanctuary's building and setting up which followed God's instructions to Moses in the mount, to the building instructions and particulars for the sanctuary that God told Israel to build so He might dwell among them.
The wilderness tabernacle was built by Israel at God's command so He might dwell among them, as the center of earthly worship which revolved around the holy of holies where God's law rested beneath the mercy seat. It was a marvelously beautiful structure made from the free-will offerings of the children of Israel by workmen specially endowed by God, with its dimensions, material and furnishings made exactly according to the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount. This is the Exodus 25 to 40 account of the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out from Egypt and commanded them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them. When the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. That earthly sanctuary with its priests, rites and ceremonies was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things and pointing to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world and His power to forgive sin, transform the character and deliver from burdens, until with the death of Christ and His sacrifice at Calvary the veil of the temple was rent and the typical earthly sanctuary passed away entirely and forever.
The tabernacle and its furnishings were object lessons in spiritual truths, and the sanctuary was a great multiple object-lesson of the plan of salvation given after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand. Hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required, so its teaching comprehended by various forms and rites the great plan of salvation. Its ceremonial service taught sinners how to approach God and pointed forward to the real atonement in Christ, for the tabernacle was a type of the heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers and its service was a type of His service there. The laver belonged to that earthly sanctuary and was set apart as part of its ceremonial service by this anointing and sanctification. The explicit instructions for making Him a sanctuary or dwelling place were given after God led Israel out of Egypt so He might dwell among them to reveal more fully His great love in unfolding the plan of redemption, whereas from Eden to the Exodus approach to God was very simple by offering a lamb for sin upon an altar of rough stones with the father of each family acting as priest or mediator between his family and God.
Ministry Order and Application
The sanctification of the wilderness tabernacle was performed entirely by Moses in the presence of Aaron and his sons, as shown in Exodus 40:9-15. This was the due order for consecrating the sanctuary, with the national leader taking the leading part in everything, even in things supposed to belong exclusively to the priests. It explains and justifies Solomon taking the leading part in everything at the dedication of the temple, exhorting, sacrificing, praying, consecrating the temple, and blessing the people while the high priest is not noticed. In this Solomon continued the union of king and priest in his own person after the example of David his father.
The direction to anoint and sanctify the laver stands among the commands concerning practices described as perpetual in Exodus 40:1-16, yet it belongs to the Jewish ceremonial system whose types and shadows reached their end in Christ. That earthly sanctuary was the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness after God brought Israel out of Egypt and commanded them to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them, with its dimensions, material, and furnishings made exactly according to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount. When the work was finished the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. With its priests, rites, and ceremonies it was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, serving unto the shadow of heavenly things and pointing to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and His power to forgive sin, transform the character, and deliver from burdens. At the death of Christ and His sacrifice at Calvary the veil of the temple was rent and the typical earthly sanctuary passed away entirely and forever, unlike the seventh-day Sabbath, which is not a type and continues without end.
The ministration commenced by Moses when he brought the Ten Commandments down was carried forward through the entire Old Testament period while the typical sanctuary should continue. Moses placed the two tables in the ark and placed the ark in the Most Holy Place of the typical sanctuary, and set apart the Levitical priesthood to minister before that ark. To sinful people that ministration was only condemnation and death, because it could only show guilt and exposure to the just penalty of the law and contained in itself no promise of pardon. Yet it was so glorious that its minister had to veil his face.