rushes in the Bible

The papyrus rush is mentioned in Job 8:11. They grow in marshes and along rivers and lakes.

A prophecy in the book of Isaiah says about Egypt,

The rivers will emit a stench,
The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
The reeds and rushes will rot away. —Isaiah 19:6 LSB

A prophecy about the dry wilderness of Israel says,

Then the scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground springs of water;
In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes. —Isaiah 35:7 LSB

This prophecy is first a geographic promise about Judah’s wilderness / Negev–Arabah corridor on the road to Zion. Many readers also hear a spiritual sense: dry people and a dry land both made fruitful when God comes (compare Isaiah 51:3 — Zion’s wilderness made like Eden). Jesus’ prophecied healings of the deaf and lame in Isaiah 35:5–6 show the start of restoration beginning in his ministry; the land-healing in Isaiah 35:6–7 is the matching piece of that hope.