“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” (Psalm 18:2 ESV). When we speak of a deliverer today, we are often referring to Jesus. Jesus is the Rock. That is, the rock mentioned in the Old Testament is a type of Jesus. Types found in the Old Testament are foreshadows that point to a greater, future fulfillment. This is called typology, and it’s used extensively in the Old Testament. Other references to Jesus being the Rock or Stone are found in Genesis 49:24, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:14; 28:16, and Daniel 2:34-45.
During the exodus, God instructed Moses to strike the rock. “You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” (Exodus 17:6). Everything in this verse is a type. The rock, the water, the striking of the rock and the people drinking are all types.
First, we’ll look at the water. You will see that this water represents the living water Jesus spoke of. In Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13, God tells His people that they have forsaken Him, “the fountain of living water.” This is what Jesus was referring to when He told the woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10 ESV). This water flows from believers. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38 ESV).
Next, we find the striking of the rock in Zechariah. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” (Zechariah 13:7 ESV). Jesus quoted this saying that it would be fulfilled that night when He was arrested. It was also that night that Jesus said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20 ESV). It was the striking of Jesus that brought the new covenant and the living water that flows from Him through His believers.
Going back to our passage in Exodus, God said, “Water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Exodus 17:6 ESV). Indeed, people have been thirsting for and drinking His living water ever since that fountain started to flow. Knowing all this, we can make sense of God’s anger with Moses when God had told him to speak to the rock:
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” (Numbers 20:11-12 ESV)
It always seemed a bit harsh to me that God prevented Moses from entering the promised land for striking a rock rather than speaking to it. But remember, the rock represents Jesus. This was a type that God intended for our understanding and Moses was destroying it. Our Lord was stricken once but He will not be stricken again! This is why God told Moses to speak to the rock. That’s what we do every time we pray. We speak to the Rock of our salvation.