Anyone notice in Leviticus anytime someone touches something unclean they are to wash themselves, clothing...etc so they can become clean again? I know we aren't bound by those laws, but I do find that interesting. Anytime an Israelite comes in contact with something unclean they are to cleanse them self with water.
Water cleansed the Earth in the time of Noah.
The Hebrew slaves passed through the waters of the Red Sea leaving behind their slave life, and into a new life. Paul stated this was a form of baptism.
In Ezekiel 36 the prophecy is about Jesus and sprinkling water:
24 “I will take you out of those nations, gather you together, and bring you back to your own land.25 Then I will sprinkle pure water on you and make you pure. I will wash away all your filth, the filth from those nasty idols, and I will make you pure.26 I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart.27 I will put my Spirit inside you[a] and change you so that you will obey my laws. You will carefully obey my commands.
What is obviously a purification process. The Israelites are commanded to do it, and the apostles preached on baptism. In the NT people were baptized. If baptism wasn't important then there would be no scripture on it in the NT and it would not have been prophesied in the OT.
And to those who say being born of water and spirit means the actual birthing process, well.... everyone knows that an unborn baby is surrounded by water. Every person is born of water. That childbirth is a natural process, and has been going on since Eve had kids. By even holding to that belief you are saying that a baby who died in the womb won't go to Heaven. They were never born. They died beforehand. Being born of water is strictly about a spiritual rebirth.