What does Exodus 4:2 mean?

Moses has raised a concern (Exodus 4:1) about God's command to lead Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10). The problem is simple: Moses is essentially a stranger with no credibility in the eyes of the Israelite people (Exodus 2:10, 14–15; Acts 7:29–30). The Lord apparently hasn't spoken to Israel since they came into Egypt (Genesis 15:13). If Moses claims to have spoken with the One True God (Exodus 3:14), worshipped by the patriarchs (Exodus 3:15), there is no reason for them to believe it.

The Lord responds by setting up a series of miraculous signs. The first involves Moses' staff (Exodus 4:3–5). Moses is given the ability to turn it into a snake and then back into a staff. This staff would be integral to many other expressions of God's power through Moses (Exodus 4:20; 7:9–12, 15; 8:5, 16; 9:23; 10:13). After Israel left Egypt, the staff would continue to be a tangible part of God's miracles on behalf of Israel (Exodus 14:16; 17:9; Numbers 20:8–9).

Moses' staff demonstrates one of the lessons in the book of Exodus. The staff was just a stick—it had no power of its own. But it could be a conduit for power. Moses, likewise, was just a man (Exodus 3:11). Yet the power to free Israel was not coming from Moses, but from God (Exodus 3:12).