"And HaShem said to Moshe and to Aharon: when Pharaoh will speak to you, saying 'show a miracle for yourselves' you shall say to Aharon: take the staff and cast it before Pharaoh and it will become a serpent." (Shemot 7:8)
 

The miracle of the staff was not one of the series of the ten plagues of Egypt, so the question arises: what was the purpose of this miracle?
 

Chazal explained the verse "And each man cast his staff and they became serpents and Aharon's staff swallowed their staffs (Shemot 7:12)" as follows (Shemot Rabbah 9,7):
 

"HaShem said: If a serpent will swallow the serpents of the Egyptians, they will say that this is the way of the world, that one serpent swallows another one. But (instead) it will return to its original state and swallow their serpents. What is the meaning of 'and Aharon's staff swallowed their staffs'? Rabbi Elazar said: a miracle within a miracle - that the staff returned, a staff like it was originally and swallowed them. And when Pharaoh saw this he was astonished, and said: And what (will happen) if he will tell the staff to swallow Pharaoh and his throne? Now it will swallow him. Rabbi Yosi Bar Rabbi Hanina said: a great miracle was performed with the staff: even though it swallowed all the staffs they cast, and they were numerous - enough to make ten omerim - it did not swell, and everyone who saw it said 'this is Aharon's staff' and therefore Aharon's staff was a good sign for making miracles and wonders with it for generations."

The sages emphasize that the miracle of the staff was a great miracle – a miracle within a miracle, an exception to the rules of nature. The staff itself swallowed the other staffs, in addition, its size did not change. What was all this for?
 

The miracle of the staff signaled the new form of HaShem's guidance over Am Israel, which was guidance above the laws of nature, in contrast to the guidance at the time of the Patriarchs, which was through א-ל שדי, meaning natural guidance – according to the laws of nature. Now begins the supervision over the sons, supervision above nature, which is indicated by the name י-ה-ו-ה. Supervision which begins with the miracle of the staff and continues through the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea, which was also a "miracle within a miracle" – B'nei Israel walked through the sea on dry land "while the horses of Pharaoh came into the sea with his chariots and horsemen and HaShem turned the waters of the sea over them." (Shemot 15:19) Dry land for Israel and water over the Egyptians – this is a miracle within a miracle for which Am Israel sang Shira (a song of praise).
 

In essence, the purpose of the staff was to reveal the Name of HaShem Baruch Hu, and therefore Hashem's explicit name was engraved upon it. And therefore it says: "And this staff take in your hand, with which you will do the miracles" (Shemot 4:17) as all the miracles of Egypt were performed by means of the staff, and through it were the revelation of His name and His existence.

Therefore we found in Midrash Tanhuma (parshat VaEreh) that the plagues of Egypt were also "a miracle within a miracle". In fact, in the plagues we see one thing and its antithesis simultaneously. In the plague of blood, our Rabbis of blessed memory said: when there was a bowl filled with water, and an Israelite and an Egyptian drank from it together, the Israelite drank water and the Egyptian drank blood. And in the plague of darkness, they said that the darkness engulfed the Egyptians, and when an Israelite entered the darkness, he had light. So we see two opposites simultaneously, and this is "a miracle within a miracle."
 

This staff passed through all the generations until the destruction of the first Temple, and it is destined to return at the time of the complete salvation, and so it says in Yalkut Shimoni (Parshat Chukat, Remez 763):
 

This is what is meant by (Tehillim 110:2) "HaShem will send the staff of your might from Zion" – this is the staff of Yaakov Avinu, as it says: "As I crossed this Jordan with my staff." And this is the staff which was in the hand of Yehuda, as it says: "and your staff which is in your hand." And it was in Moshe's hand, as is written: "And this staff take in your hand." It was in Aharon's hand, as it says: "And Aharon cast his staff." And it was in David's hand, as is written: "And he took his rod in his hand." And it was in the hand of every king until the Temple was destroyed and it was put away in a hidden place. And in the future the staff will be passed on to Melech HaMashiach, and he is destined to rule with it over the nations of the world, as it says: "HaShem will send the staff of your might from Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies."
 

As we explained at the beginning of our discussion, the purpose of the staff is the revelation of the existence of G-d as manifested by the name י-ה-ו-ה which is the mastery over the system of nature, and for this reason it was passed from generation to generation until the destruction of the Temple.
 

And the staff is destined to be revealed at the time of the full redemption, to Melech HaMashiach, and then it will be evident that HaShem is one and His Name is one, just as HaShem revealed Himself in Egypt and "As in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt I will show you wonders" (Micha 7:15).
 

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