Picking up from Chapter 16, the Manna is more than just the bread, but it is the meat from quail, a bird. We look back to Genesis 1:20-23 to understand John 6 as the sign of the Eucharist as foreshadowed in Exodus 16. Birds "swim" in the waters above the earth and the fish swim in the waters below the earth.

We look at Chapter 17 and the Water from the Rock. We turn to St. Paul to gain insight into the significance of the water from the Rock. God provides for the Israelites despite them murmuring and testing God. This testing of God is remembered in Psalm 95, which is read every day in the invitatory of the Liturgy of the hours.