Exodus 32:19-20

19 “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.”

In the Middle East, whenever a covenant was made, written down, and then violated, the clay tablets it was written on were ceremonially thrown down and shattered to signify that the covenant was indeed broken. So, this wasn’t just a moment of rage in which Moses lost it for a second and in doing so threw down the tablets, it was a visual for the people.

20 “And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.”

Compare with Deuteronomy 9:21 “And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.”

Gold is insoluble in water, however, in a fine powder it assumes a colloidal condition and give the liquid a deep red blood-like color. The result was a suspension which came a visual reckoning of the salvation found in purified blood/water.

John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”