The Baptism and Spiritual Rock

Paul wrote this to the Saints at Corinth about the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 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 10:1-4). According to Paul we can consider this miraculous crossing as a kind of baptism for the children of Israel where they left behind Egypt and began a new life following Moses and the commandments of the Lord. So too when we are baptized today, we seek to leave behind former sins and begin as new creatures in Christ following His commandments. And if this crossing can represent baptism, perhaps we should likewise think on it as we renew our covenants of baptism. Each week we should also symbolically leave behind the sins (Egypt) that have beset us that week and try again to follow the Lord and His commands. And the fact that the Egyptians who were seeking to capture the Israelites were all drown in the sea could represent for us how our sins should be gone forever; through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed and our past mistakes forgotten permanently.

               The second part of the above passage from Paul speaks to another event that took place among the children of Israel shortly after their crossing of the Red Sea. The people were thirsty to the point that Moses was afraid they would stone him. He asked the Lord what he should do, and the Lord said this: “Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 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” (Exodus 17:5-6). Moses did smite the rock, and water came out so that the people could drink. To Paul this rock was symbolic of the rock of Christ. He is a rock not just from water flows but also a sure foundation on which we can build. Helaman declared to his son: “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation” (Helaman 5:12). The psalmist also used this imagery, calling the Lord his rock: “The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted…. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God…. O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation” (Psalm 18:46, 62:7, 95:1).

            As I thought more about this story, I was intrigued by the fact that Moses “did smite the rock.” He hit the rock with his rod, and then at that point the water came forth. If Christ is the rock, then perhaps there is symbolism in this that reminds us of His great sacrifice for mankind when He was smitten for us. As Isaiah said, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). Nephi similarly wrote, “Wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men” (1 Nephi 19:9). Luke recorded at least one instance where this happened: “And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him” (Luke 22:63-65). He was smitten, and because He let that happen again and again until He was crucified on the cross. Because of that, He is able to provide us with living water to save us from spiritual death, just as the smitten rock provided physical water to the Israelites dying of thirst.