And Jacob took rods of green poplar, and of the almond and plane tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
Read Chapter 30
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
The just man Jacob comes in like a hired hand and yet is the master who, in his ministry of preaching the gospel, gathered together a flock that is resplendent in the brilliance of its many signal virtues. Thus, when the flock came to drink, he would set before them in the troughs the bough of storax and walnut and that from the plane tree; those who felt desire for the mysteries of the most blessed Trinity that were prefigured there could engender offspring that were not at all discolored, by conceiving them in a devout mind. Good were the sheep that produced the offspring that were good works and that were not degenerate in holy faith. By the storax is meant the incense and the evening sacrifice that is offered to God the Father in the psalm; by the walnut bough, the priestly gift that is offered by Christ. For this is Aaron’s bough, that blossomed when it was set down, and through it the grace of priestly holiness was manifested. By the plane tree is meant an abundance of spiritual ...
The rod also enigmatically symbolizes for us the Immanuel, for he is actually called by this name in the divinely inspired Scriptures. “And there shall sprout a rod,” the divine Isaiah says, “out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root.” David … proclaimed to the heavenly Father and God: “Your rod and your staff have comforted me.” We received consolation in Christ and made him our pillar. In fact, it was written, “The Lord shall support the righteous.” And Christ in a sense displays a sort of rod to us as to reasonable goats and herds spread all over the earth and in the whole world. But it is not a rod of any kind, but it is made out of storax wood and walnut and plane tree. The storax tree is placed as a witness of righteousness. This tree is the symbol of death. The body of the dead is treated with perfumes, and a very sweet perfume is the oil of the storax tree. Christ died for us and was buried, according to Scripture. The rod made of walnut wood is a symb...
Because the three rods have been mentioned, we can examine further, if you are agreeable, the symbolism of the kingdom implicit in them. The patriarch chose for himself three rods from three trees. The first was perfumed from the storax tree, the second smooth from the plane tree, the third unbending from the almond tree. The plane contains the Spirit, the storax the Virgin, and the almond Christ. For the plane extends its spreading branches to provide shade; so the Holy Spirit fashioned Christ by casting his shadow over the Virgin. I believe that the rod from the storax, the tree of David, is the Virgin who in childbirth brought forth a sweetsmelling Blossom. The rod of the almond tree is Christ, for there is food within that tree, which has an outer casing consisting of bitter bark over its green skin. Here you must recognize the divine Christ clothed in our human body. In that flesh he can be broken; the food lies in the Word, the bitterness in the cross. His hard covering consists ...
