Transforming a dry, barren wasteland into an overflowing source of living water highlights a profound reversal of the natural order. While the splitting of the Red Sea miraculously turned water into dry land, the events in the desert accomplished the exact opposite by drawing fresh water out of completely parched earth [מלבי״ם]. Furthermore, the stones involved were not ordinary; they were made of exceptionally hard material, far denser than typical rock [מצודת ציון, שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם].
Although the historical account focuses on Moses striking a single stone at a time, the events are remembered in the plural. The primary approach among commentators is that this reflects multiple miraculous occurrences throughout the long wanderings in the wilderness, specifically the striking of the rock at Rephidim and a later, similar event at Kadesh [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם]. An alternative, spiritual perspective suggests that during the initial event, there were actually two distinct barriers to overcome. The first was the physical flint stone itself. The second was a hard, stubborn spiritual blockage created by the Israelites' constant complaints. The act of striking was necessary to first shatter this spiritual barrier that held back divine blessing. Only after the spiritual resistance was broken did the physical stone finally split open [אלשיך].
Once the water flowed, God provided the Israelites with a supernatural abundance, quenching their thirst as if they were drinking from the endless depths of the ocean [מצודת דוד, שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם]. This imagery of the deep ocean also hints at another hidden miracle, depending on an ancient variation in reading the text. While the standard tradition compares the desert water to the ocean depths, an alternative reading places the event directly inside those depths. According to this perspective, even as the Israelites walked through the salty waters of the Red Sea, God miraculously sweetened springs of fresh drinking water for them right within the ocean itself [רש״י, מנחת שי].