Nowadays, message switching is implemented at application level and it is actually transported by packet switching at the network level.

The most common example of this is email: an email is the message, the emails servers are the switches. The email is transferred using store and forward technique between each email servers, through SMTP protocol.

Between two email server, this message is divided into packets that are transported using TCP and IP protocols and pass through several IP networks. Each of this network can contain several  switches and routers.

On a single path, the packets may traverse switches that use store and forward as well as other switches that use cut-through switching.