Laver - God's Peace

When King Solomon replaced the Israel’s primitive tabernacle with a magnificent temple, he had a huge water-reservoir built to serve as the laver for the purification for the priests (1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-6) It was so large – 15 feet across, 45 feet circumference and holding 16,500 gallons – that it was called a “sea”. This grandiose symbolic ocean illustrated the expansive dimensions of God’s grace and forgiveness.

But it also conveyed another level of meaning. Since the sea for Israel represented the chaotic forces of evil opposed to God, this artifact probably also symbolized “the forces of chaos that have been subdued and brought to order by the Lord who is creator of the world”(1) It affirmed that Yahweh was supreme over the Canaanite deities Yamm and Baal, gods of sea and storm.

Solomon’s symbolism was echoed a thousand years later in the Book of Revelation where “before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.” (Revelation 4:6) If there was ever a symbol of God’s infinitely forgiving heart, it is this ocean of crystal water.

Like Solomon’s laver, John’s crystal sea pictures God’s infinite purity and his boundless purifying grace. It also proclaims the peace that surrounds God’s throne. It is a sea of tranquility, unperturbed by the restless wickedness of earth.

This heavenly vision depicts ultimate reality – i.e., that God reigns, and that chaos and evil will not prevail. That’s why God’s people on earth can sing as Israel sang in Psalm 89.8-9,
“O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them (2).

(1) Iain Poivan, Commentary on 1 Kings.
(2) Darrell Johnson, Discipleship on the Edge, An Expository Journey through the Book of Revelation.

Image Sources:
Solomon's Temple - Phoenicia
At the Edge - TheThoughtVox