Using the magnetohydrodynamic model, the evolution of a resistive plasma can be represented as a relaxation through a sequence of force-free equilibrium states. We show, by extending existing work, that this process is equivalent to magnetic field diffusion in a strongly anisotropie static conductor. The latter evolution is easier to simulate numerically, and is carried out for laboratory based plasmas confined in cylinders and toroids. We obtain a variety of universal equilibrium profiles that are consistent with experiment and relaxation theory and that predict the existence of states arising in reversed-field pinches. The existence of a critical axial flux is predicted about which there exist stable modes of operation corresponding to high and low current. We also show the existence of a critical aspect ratio at which it is most desirable to build toroidal devices. This corresponds to the value at which maximum current, for a fixed driving field, can be generated.