7417. Stretch out thy rod. That this signifies that he should show Divine power, is evident from the signification "to stretch out," as being to exercise and to show (as above); and from the signification of a "rod," as being power (see n. 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026); which power was Divine because Aaron had no power, still less was there power in the rod; but the power was exercised through Aaron and his rod. That it was exercised through the rod was because the things done by Divine command within the church were done by means of representatives (this was before the Lord's Coming), thus by the stretching out of the hand and of the rod; because the arm and the hand correspond to power, and from this also the rod. The reason why before the Coming of the Lord the things done within the church by Divine command were done by means of representatives, was that all things and each represented the Lord and His kingdom in the heavens, and His kingdom on earth, that is, the church. That this is so can also be seen from the Word, in which all things and each in the supreme sense treat of the Lord, and in the internal sense treat of His kingdom and church.