The staff is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus (chapter 4, verse 2), when God appears to Moses in the burning bush. God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers a staff (a rod in the KJV version).The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff.uring the Exodus, Moses stretches out his hand with the staff to part the Red Sea. While in the wilderness after leaving Egypt Moses follows God's command to strike a rock with the rod to create a spring for the Israelites to drink from.