Ezekiel is now told to take two sticks and write upon them. One stick was to be labeled with the name Judah and the Children of Israel his companions, the other tribes. The other stick was to be labeled with the name Joseph and Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions, again the other tribes. In general, Ephraim is used as a synecdoche (part referencing the whole) to refer to the whole Northern Kingdom of Israel. The tribe of Ephraim inhabited the northern part of Israel. Jeroboam I, the first king of the Northern Kingdom was from the tribe of Ephraim (I Kings 11:26) and the later prophets often refer to the Northern Kingdom by the name Ephraim (Jeremiah 31:6 ; Hosea 1:11). Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria in 722 B.C., and Judah was taken into exile by Babylon in 605, 597 and 586 B.C.
The essence of this prophecy is the merging of the two sticks into one unit. This stick or rod should have been a familiar symbol for the people of Israel. God used it to describe the twelve tribes of Israel whose names were commanded each to be written on a stick or rod (Numbers 17:2-10).
These sticks which Ezekiel is told to place together represent the reunification of the nation Israel into one sovereign country not divided as it was after the days of king Solomon. (931 B.C.)
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