The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.
Exodus 4:2-6
The miracle of the rod seems to have been designed to be repeated before the people (5) to convince them of the reality of Moses' commission. But it is also a parable speaking directly to Moses' own heart, and through him to us. If we bear in mind that Moses' hesitancy over his call to service may have been due to the consciousness of his earlier failure (2:11-15), it may well be that in this miracle God is saying to him, 'Yes, Moses, you have natural qualities and gifts of leadership, but gifts and qualities unsanctified and undirected can run amok and turn and rend you, making you flee in disorder as you flee from the serpent. But taken up at My behest and controlled and directed by My hand they can be used to some purpose. So, Moses, take up the work from which you fled in disorder, and do it My way, and under My direction, and then they will hear you.' This parabolic interpretation has application to us in a number of directions, as a little thought will make apparent. For one thing, it underlines the fact that in each man there is a terrific potential for either good or evil. Let loose, the natural man, without the constraint or control of the Spirit of God, can be like a serpent, biting and stinging, and ruinous to life and soul, our own and others alike. Only when this nature of ours is taken up in faith and in obedience to the will of God can its potential for good be realised. Life can either be a terrific and terrifying problem, bewildering us with the powers that rage within it, or what it was meant by God to be, a life harnessed to His will, an instrument of righteousness, carrying power and authority, and speaking to men from Him. And this is surely true even in the context of the sometimes grave and intractable weaknesses and twists of personality, the instabilities and abnormalities that play havoc with life and have ruinous repercussions for those afflicted with them. The 'serpent' can become at God's behest and in His control a rod of authority and power that will be for His glory.