The Washbasin is the Urinary Bladder

The urinary bladder is a hollow organ that stores urine (waste, a byproduct of metabolism) before it is released from the body. It is held in place by folds in the peritoneum (abdominal lining). In the Tabernacle of the human body, the urinary bladder is the washbasin and the folds holding it in place are the washbasin’s stand. 

The washbasin stood in the Tabernacle courtyard between the Tabernacle and the altar of burnt offering (Ex. 40:7). It was made of bronze and its stand was made from mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle as a free-will offering (Ex. 38:8). Like the other furniture pieces of the tabernacle, it too was anointed with oil and set apart as holy (Lev. 8:11). 

The priests used the washbasin to wash their hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle and before approaching the burnt altar to offer sacrifices. If they didn’t they would die (Ex. 30:19-20). This symbolized the purity required to serve the Lord. Scripture does not reveal how often the water was changed or all that was involved with its maintenance. 

Two New Covenant washing ceremonies point back to the washbasin of the Tabernacle. One occurred during the Last Supper when Jesus washed the Apostles’ feet (John 13:1-17). As He explained, it was an example of the humble service they were to extend to others. As the leaders of the new priesthood—the believers of Christ who make up the Church, they too were ministering before the Lord, just like the Old Covenant priests. However, instead of worshippers coming to the Temple, the apostles would go into the world and make new disciples, whose holy lives would be the worship that God sought. How beautiful, then, were the feet that brought Good News (Rom. 10:14-15). 

The Last Supper is honored by New Covenant priests (believers) through the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. As Paul instructed, participants are to examine themselves beforehand (1 Cor. 11:28-31), which points back to the mirrors of the washbasin. The priests surely performed some type of self-examination before serving, just as the New Covenant priests are encouraged to (2 Cor. 13:5).

The remaining connection is baptism. Just as the old covenant priests were washed to symbolically show their purity, Scripture teaches the New Covenant priests (believers) should be baptized. Jesus set the example here, too, as He was baptized by John the Baptist before beginning his earthly ministry (Mark 1:9), and He told the apostles to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Baptism itself is also tied to the ceremonial washings required of in the Old Covenant whenever someone became ceremonially unclean (such as if they touched a dead body; Num. 19:13). In the New Covenant, however, baptism is symbolic of moral purity.