Chor (H2356) refers to a hole or hollow — in rock (1 Sam 14:11), a socket for a door (Song 5:4), the 'holes' where mice hide (Isa 2:20), or a pit for enemies (Isa 42:22). Related to the word for 'white' (H2353 chor = nobleman/free man), this root spans both physical cavities and social conditions. Caves and holes were places of hiding — both for the desperate and for the sacred.
The theology of hiding in holes appears throughout Scripture. In judgment, the wicked flee to holes and caves to hide from God's glory (Isa 2:19-20, Rev 6:15-16). But there is also the holy hiding: Moses in the cleft of the rock to see God's glory pass by (Exod 33:22), Elijah in the cave at Horeb (1 Kgs 19:9). God's people find their hiding place not in limestone caves but in God Himself (Ps 32:7, 91:1-2). The hollow in the rock becomes a type of the shelter found in Christ.