What did God tell Moses to do to the rock at Horeb?
God commanded him to smite the rock at Horeb with his rod. Once struck, water would come out of it so the people could drink. Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same place. The rock symbolized Jesus the Christ, the Rock, as explained in 1 Corinthians.
Les explains that Horeb and Mount Sinai are one and the same. God told Moses He would stand before him there upon the rock in Horeb. Moses was to smite, or strike, the rock with his rod, and water would come out of it so the people could drink. God knew that not only several million people but also all their livestock needed water, so there was plenty—Les suggests it was like a veritable river flowing through the desert floor. Les also ties the term rock symbolically to Jesus Christ, noting that 1 Corinthians 10 identifies Him as the Rock, and Scripture elsewhere calls Him the stone of stumbling and rock of offense.
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.
More Questions
What does 1 Corinthians 10 say the rock in the wilderness was?
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul plainly identifies the rock from which the Israelites drank water in the wilderness as Christ.