Numbers 8:7
And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
The cleansing prescribed was for setting apart the Levites for work in the priest's office, requiring sprinkling with purifying water and shaving of all the flesh and washing of the clothes, by which they made themselves clean. The term rendered sprinkle denotes sprinkling and not dipping or immersing. The sprinkling of the water of purification belonged to ceremonial cleansing from ritual uncleanness, which is distinct from moral defilement and is not ordinary washing to remove dirt.
The requirement to shave the whole body in that ritual cleansing shows that shaving in itself is not forbidden, not displeasing to God, and not a violation of His image. Those ritual sprinklings were figurative and typical, pointing to cleansing by Christ's blood. The sprinkling described for the Levites is not called baptism and does not establish sprinkling as the manner of Christian baptism, since it concerns ritual cleansing rather than the baptismal rite.
Regular household washing of clothes is a weekly reconsecration to the office of the royal priesthood, necessary to keep households in a condition pleasing to God. Serving and obeying God at the washtub is just as much service as attending service on the Sabbath day. Outward cleanliness belongs together with inward cleanliness in being clean to bear the vessels of the Lord.