The water from the rock at Rephidim signifies God’s power to provide for His people and points to Christ as the ultimate source of spiritual life. After leaving the Wilderness of Sin, Israel camped at Rephidim and faced severe thirst. Instead of trusting God, they quarreled with Moses and questioned the Lord’s presence among them.
Exodus 17:3–6 records:
“And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses… So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!’ And the Lord said to Moses… ‘Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.’”
This miracle revealed that God alone could meet their need. The rock, struck by Moses, became the channel of life-giving water. The location was named Massah and Meribah, meaning “testing” and “quarreling,” because Israel doubted God’s care.
Spiritually, this event foreshadows Christ. Paul writes:
“For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:4)
When Moses struck the rock, it symbolized Christ being smitten on the cross, from whom flows the living water of salvation (John 7:37–38). Just as the water sustained Israel physically, Jesus satisfies the soul eternally.
The water from the rock teaches that God provides abundantly even in the hardest places and that His people must trust Him instead of testing Him. It reminds us that true life comes only through the Rock of our salvation.
