So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. The manna kept for the Sabbath does not rot. The same overnight keeping that produced maggots in verse 20 produces perfectly preserved food for the Sabbath. The difference is not the duration of keeping but the divine intention behind it: manna kept in disobedience rots; manna kept in Sabbath obedience keeps. The miracle is not that manna can be preserved — it cannot, ordinarily — but that God preserves what He has designated for Sabbath rest. The principle has a wider application: what is set apart for God's purposes does not decay. The ark that carried Moses, the bush that burned without being consumed, and the manna kept for the Sabbath are all objects that do not experience what they would naturally experience because of the divine purpose surrounding them.

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