Exodus 30:17-21: in context

God commands a bronze basin, filled with water, set between the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet in it whenever they enter the tent to serve or approach the altar to make an offering. Twice the command adds the reason: so that they do not die. This washing before ministering is to be a lasting statute for the priests through all their generations.

The basin stood between the altar and the tent, so a priest could not pass from the world into God's presence, or approach the altar to serve, without stopping to wash. And the repeated warning, that they may not die, marks how seriously God took it. It was not enough to have been consecrated once; the priests needed a repeated, daily cleansing, washing hands and feet each time before they drew near. There is a picture here of the ongoing cleansing the servant of God requires. We are made clean once, decisively, but the daily walk still soils the hands and feet, and coming again into God's presence and service calls for a fresh washing, a returning to be cleansed of what the day has gathered. The New Testament catches this when Jesus tells Peter that one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; the decisive cleansing is done, but the feet that walk the dusty road need washing still. The priest who would minister could not skip the basin. And the mercy in it is that the basin was there, provided, standing ready between the world and the altar, so that the servant could always be cleansed and draw near, rather than being kept away. God provides the washing that makes ongoing nearness possible.

Do I come to serve and draw near to God without stopping to be cleansed of what the day has gathered, or do I return regularly to the washing he provides, so that ongoing nearness is possible?