a rod: The word matteh: signifies a staff, or sceptre, which the prince or chief of each tribe bore, and which was the sign of office or royalty among almost all the people of the earth.
all their princes: Numbers 1:5-16, Numbers 2:3-30, Numbers 10:14-27
twelve rods: Genesis 49:10; Exodus 4:2, Exodus 4:17; Psalms 110:2, Psalms 125:3; Ezekiel 19:14, Ezekiel 21:10, Ezekiel 21:13; Ezekiel 37:16-20; Micah 7:14