When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die.
We now have a fountain open for all, inexhaustible living water to wash in; it is our own fault if we remain in our filth. The priests could not offer their own cleanliness at home; they must wash at the appointed laver, and we must daily renew our repentance and apply the blood of Christ to our souls, for we daily offend and contract pollution.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 30:17-21
No man entered the court before washing at the laver, no matter how clean he thought himself; sin exposes to death, and only the blood of Christ washes from that wages. Every service required this washing first, and the priest must be washed before he was fit to draw near the altar or he would surely die.
AI summary
This washing was emblematical; hands mean all their works, feet mean all their goings, and both must be holiness unto the Lord. The washing had to be repeated whenever they entered the tabernacle or came near the altar, because the Spirit's influences must be renewed as frequently as the soul contracts moral defilement.
AI summary