In John 13:1-17, in His last supper with His disciples, Jesus washed their feet as a practical illustration of a profound spiritual truth—that they should serve one another humbly as He did. In John 13:10, when Peter recoiled at this servile act of Christ, Jesus taught them an important truth about coming clean before God. They were already clean because of the sacrifice He
would go through for them the following day, but they still needed to continually rid themselves of the filth that sin brought to their lives on a daily basis.

The cleansing that Jesus graciously won for us on the cross was wonderfully pre-figured in the Old Testament by the bronze basin that the Lord instructed Moses to make and to place between the altar and the tent of meeting. With it the priests of the Lord were ceremonially cleansed as they were consecrated to begin their service in the tabernacle (Exodus 29:4). With it also, the priests of the Lord were to cleanse themselves continually as they offered sacrifices for the atonement of sin, and met with the Lord in the tabernacle (Exodus 30:17-21).