THE SNAKE ON THE POLE

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Nu 21:5–9). (2016). Crossway Bibles.

21:9 Moses made a bronze serpent. This sculpture was not for worship, although later Israelites treated it as an idol (2 Kin. 18:4). Nor was it an instrument of magic. Rather, it was a test of individual faith. At Taberah, God had simply removed danger from everyone when Moses interceded (Num. 11:2). But now healing from snakebite depended on choosing to look at a representation of the source of evil that the people had caused to come upon themselves. So looking was a form of unspoken confession. Jesus said that He would be lifted up (on the cross) like the bronze serpent, so that whoever believes can have eternal life (John 3:14–15).

Dybdahl, J. L., ed. (2010). Andrews Study Bible Notes (p. 195). Andrews University Press.