Numbers 17:3-4

I take that to mean that each one of the leaders of the tribe, the prince of the tribe, brought forth a rod. It does not stipulate what kind of wood the rod had to be. It only stipulates that it turned out that the rod for Levi—meaning Aaron's staff—came from an almond tree. It is possible that twelve different kinds of wood were represented here. And then the names of the tribes were written on the rods. There was one rod for Joseph, another rod for Reuben, and another rod for Benjamin, and of course the rod that had Levi's name written on it.

That verse gives the indication that all twelve rods were then taken into the Holy Place; not the Holy of Holies, but inside the Holy Place. It gives the indication that they were either laid on a table, or they may have even been laid on the ground right before the veil, at the foot of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place—the Holy of Holies.

Now symbolically what does this mean? Who was sitting on the Ark? God was sitting on the Ark, and so at His feet, as it were, were the twelve rods. In other words these twelve rods were basically, as we might say, sitting in God's lap. He could not avoid them. They were right there for His scrutiny.

Numbers 17:1-5

Now we are going to go to Numbers 17. God was not done yet with what this revolution had stirred up.

That is the last time Aaron had that rod in his possession because God claimed it. What God did here was confirm before all the Israelites that Aaron and his descendants were chosen of Him and were to represent Him before the people in religious matters. Paul's writing in Hebrews 9 confirms that the almond rod was still there.