Verse 22 “And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:”
Moses wanted to see God’s full glory, something that was impossible. The glory of God is the full expression of His bright, visible attributes of deity. That would be far more than any human could stand or comprehend. So Moses was hidden in the cleft of the rock. The cleft of the rock shows how we are safe when we are “in Christ.” Our Rock is the Lord Jesus, and every believer is in Him. ‘In Christ” is our spiritual address. That is where we live. In Christ, the believer is always hidden from God’s wrath and judgment. As the old hymn says, “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock that shadows a dry thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.”