Numbers 17:6-13 King James Version (KJV)

6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7 And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

11 And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Numbers 17:6-13 Amplified Bible (AMP)

6 And Moses spoke to the Israelites, and every one of their leaders gave him a rod or staff, one for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7 And Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 And the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and brought forth buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.

9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

10 And the Lord told Moses, Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebels; and you shall make an end of their murmurings against Me, lest they die.

11 And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

12 The Israelites said to Moses, Behold, we perish, we are undone, all undone!

13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near the tabernacle of the Lord, dies or shall die! Are we all to perish?

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

These are my thoughts, please share yours.

6 So they did this the ones who they choose may have been decided many different ways but Aaron was already chosen by God.

7 The tent a testimony was a place where he met to hear God to talk to him before.

8 This was unnatural would not have been something Moses could have done so it showed that God chose Aaron. The rods would have been known because they carried them all the time they would have known that none of their rods budded.

9 They took back their rods. Rods were used for protection in the wilderness against wild animals.

10 It would later be put into the ark. This would be a reminder that we are to follow God’s leadership instead of trying to lead our own way.

11 Aaron would no longer need his rod because instead of tending to animals outside he would be working in the tent offering up sacrifices.

12 They thought they were going to die because of this as the sons of Korah did. God showed them as He did with Korah He was giving them a chance to accept His will for Aaron instead of causing them to die.

13 This was to be a sacred place because it was the place of God, His house.