Isaiah 52:11 gives the command of the Lord: “Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.”
As we read Numbers 8:5-26 about the great lengths to which the Levites went to be clean, we hear these words about God’s servants today: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27). Look at that cascade of words: “sanctify…cleanse…washing of water…not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but…holy and without blemish.” Obviously, the Lord wants us clean! Now let’s see what the Levites did. First, they were washed. “Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them” (Num 8:7). Does this happen to believers when entering God’s presence? Yes, but with a difference: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22). By the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb on our consciences and “the washing of water by the word,” we are not superficially cleansed, but completely. It was also stated, “Let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean” (Num 8:7). Have you ever heard that clothes were sometimes called habits? Well, that’s just what the New Testament uses the symbol of clothing to stand for—our way of life. We don’t just wash our clothes; we get a whole new wardrobe! “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).