Whether the Israelites, or even Moses, realized it or not, the Messiah was with Israel during those forty years in the wilderness.

Exodus 17 makes a reference to a rock,

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 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.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17.5–7).

Later, Moses wrote a song, in which he and Israel would sing the following,

He is the Rock,
His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.
(Deuteronomy 32.4).

• Then centuries later, Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote,

• Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10.1–4).

• The rock from which Israel received water, symbolized the true Rock that accompanied them during their entire journey from Egypt to the Land of Canaan.

Along with that Rock, water played a central role in their lives, as Paul pointed out, that when they crossed the Red Sea, they were baptized into Moses.

We likewise are baptized into Christ as we journey on toward the true Land of Canaan.

Have you been baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins?

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• Deuteronomy 7.1 – Seven nations in Canaan before Israel (sevensinthebible.com)
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• 2012 in review (sevensinthebible.com)
• Deuteronomy 5.12 – 15 – The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (sevensinthebible.com)
• Messianic Prophecy Number 21: Exo 13.2 – The First Born Son (theoldtestamentandthenewtestament.com)