The Rock at Horeb
“Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
Exodus 17:6 · KJV
“And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.”
Numbers 20:11 · KJV
“And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
1 Corinthians 10:4 · KJV
Israel was dying of thirst, and God stood on a rock. “Thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink” (Exod 17:6). Moses struck it, and a river came out of stone.
It was to be struck once. Forty years later, at the second rock, God said “speak ye unto the rock” (Num 20:8), and Moses struck it twice in anger, and God kept him out of the promised land for it. Paul says why the punishment was so severe: “that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). Christ is struck once for sin (Heb 9:28); to strike Him again is to deny that the first blow was enough. Moses broke the picture, and the picture mattered more than the water.