Objects & worship
Bronze Laver
A bronze basin used by priests for ritual washing.
Also called · bronze basin · washing basin
What it means
The bronze basin and its bronze base stand between the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet before entering the tent or serving at the altar.
Exodus 30 presents this washing as a requirement so that they do not die. Exodus 38 says that the basin and base were made from the mirrors of women who served at the tent’s entrance.
How it appears in the Bible
Solomon’s temple also had a large reservoir called the Sea. Second Chronicles 4:6 distinguishes the priests’ washing in the Sea from the washing of burnt offering materials in other basins.
Translation note
“Laver” is an older English word for a washing basin.