Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 36:25

"And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." — Ezekiel 36:25 (ASV)

Ezekiel the priest considers the purifying rites prescribed by the Law, the symbolic meaning of which is shown in (Hebrews 9:13–14) and (Hebrews 10:22). Just as the Levites were consecrated with the sprinkling of water, so the approved rite of “sprinkling of water”—which was prescribed by the Law and explained by the prophets—also gave rise to the use of water for admitting proselytes in later days, and thus to its adoption by John in his baptism for repentance.

This practice was hallowed by our Lord when, in His discourse with Nicodemus (referring, no doubt, to passages like these), He showed their application to the Church He was about to found, and also when He appointed Baptism as the sacrament of admission into that Church. In this sacrament, the spiritual meaning of the legal ordinance is displayed: the second birth by water and the Spirit. Just as Israel throughout the prophecy of Ezekiel prefigures the visible Church of Christ—needing periodic adjustment or purification—so the renovated Israel represents Christ’s mystical Church (Ephesians 5:26). The spiritual character of this renovation implies a personal application of the prophet’s words, an application more thoroughly developed under the new covenant (for example, Hebrews 11:16).

Thus, the prophecy of Ezekiel provides a medium through which we pass from the congregation to the individual, from the letter to the spirit, from the Law to the Gospel, and from Moses to Christ.