U’v’otot, this is the staff: Having mentioned all the plagues, we now go on to interpret this word as a reference to the three signs which God gave Moses to show the Israelites that he was truly God’s emissary: turning the staff into a serpent, causing his hand to become leprous when he removed it from his garment, and turning water from the Nile into blood. Even though the second two signs weren’t explicitly performed with the staff, still it was through the power of the staff in his hand that Moses was able to perform these wonders. The proof for this is the verse, “Take the staff in your hand…” The words “in your hand” are unnecessary here. It would have been enough for God to say “Take the staff…” The verse suggests that simply by having the staff “in his hand” gave him the power to perform the other wonders. Another way of understanding the reference to the staff is that it is only talking about those times when Moses actually used the staff (and not the other wonders) However Moses turned his staff into a serpent not once but twice – not only with the Israelites but in the presence of Pharaoh as well.

But if we are only talking about one sign, why does the verse say otot, signs? Because there were several wonders that took place when Moses performed this act: first he turned it into a serpent, then he turned it back into a staff, and then he caused the staff to swallow all the other staves of the Egyptians!!!