God sent fiery serpents against His people in the wilderness, then He gave them a provision through His grace so that they would be rescued from the sting of death (Numbers 21:6-8); God did not remove the serpents as the people asked, but He opened up a way by grace through which the people could believe and look upon the bronze serpent in faith and be saved. It's "in faith" since they had to look at the serpent and believe that by so doing, they would be saved; and faith is contrary to sight, for by sight, "How can a dead image save?" We know medicine can heal, but how can gazing upon a bronze serpent? So faith is contrary to sight; for they were hoping for what they did not yet have, namely salvation, since they were dying from the sting of the serpents. And so God saved the Israelites who looked upon the serpent through a bronze image of that same serpent; the image of the serpent was dead, for it was only an image, but they had to hope and believe that it would give life. The living serpents stung to death, but the dead serpent brought forth life and deliverance from death. The serpents which were alive stung to death, but the bronze serpent which was dead, healed to life, even from the peril of death. So the death in them was purged by the dead image of the serpent, but they had to believe that dead image would give life; and by God's promise and provision of grace, it saved everyone who looked upon it - not merely with eyes of flesh, but with eyes of faith, for the looking upon the image did not save, but believing in God's promise did. For the Israelites who came in later generations looked upon this image of life to death, for they considered the image more than God who saved through the image; as it says, " He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. " (2 Kings 18:4)
So it is: those that burned incense to the image of the serpent, did not believe in God and transgressed; but those who beheld the serpent in faith lived; thus looking upon the image itself did not save - it is God who saves through faith. As Jesus says about this: " Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him. " (John 3:14-15)
Thus by looking upon Christ lifted up on a cross, we are saved (for an image is dead, and Christ died for us). So we are saved by His resurrection from the dead. For if Christ remains dead, we would be no better off than mediums who consult the dead, or an idolater who worships a dead image; as it says, " Should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? " (Isaiah 8:19-20)
But we inquire of God through Christ. And so it is today: for we may be prone to worship a symbol of a cross, or a picture, or any other dead thing, more than God who gives life from the dead, even giving life through the dead; for He elects to give life through Jesus Christ's death: He who died, who is now alive, by whom we consult God through; and He is our Lord and Master, He is worthy of praise and honor and worship! For " I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. " (Revelation 1:18)
Furthermore God commanded the people not to make an image and worship it; but here, God commanded Moses to make an image of a fiery serpent; but the making of an image is not sin, it is only counted as sin if it is worshiped; for in the days of Solomon, Solomon made bronze oxen and lions, but the people did not worship them and it was not counted as sin; it was commanded of God through David to make the oxen (as for the lions, I do not know if it was a command or not). An image is never the same as what it represents, for whenever an image is made the life is taken away from it; and the image is made by the skill of man where-as God creates all things, even the skill of man; thus when we create a copy of God's creation, we take the life from it when recreating it; and this is the nature of all images created by man: they are dead. So the image of the serpent that Moses created is dead; but Christ is the visible image of God, and He existed from the beginning; He was not created by man, but by Him all things came into being. Yet He died for three days, yet He lives forevermore. So He is not like the images of man, but He is the visible image of God; and man is also created in the image of God, for we are created by God in His own image; as it says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) So not all images are dead, only the ones man creates. But I say this: God uses these testimonies as pictures and parables that point to Christ. And these pictures and images are surely dead, for they exist in the mind; so it is: through these dead pictures we may see the living Christ. These testimonies are not Christ in themselves, but they are only images, pictures, parables given about Christ; and through these testimonies of Christ, we can see Christ: that is, with the eye of our understanding. So although images are dead, it is through these parables that give us conviction and assurance of the faith; as Christ often spoke in parables and once said, " How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? " (Mark 4:30)
So we are saved by Jesus through parables, similitudes, concealed truths, through the testimonies given to us by God concerning His Son, for these further the faith; and so the parable of the bronze serpent in itself is not Christ - it is a picture to Christ; and the same thing goes for all the testimonies found in the book of the law concerning God's Son: they're dead, but they point to the living Christ. So this is why the serpent in the wilderness was a bronze image: God is showing us that through images, parables, and pictures found in His Word, we may be built up in the faith to Christ; not that any physical picture can promote faith, but specifically I am talking about parables through hearing God's Word. And these all point to Jesus Christ that we may be encouraged to come to Him; these images are not the Son of God in themselves, for these are dead images, but Christ is living; these are images of the mind made possible by the Word of God; these point us to Christ so that we may come to Him for salvation; as He says, " You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. " (John 5:39-40)
He was sent to be a Ransom for whoever will look upon Him, looking upon Him with the eyes of the heart: which is faith. He emptied Himself to take on the form of man, which is made in the image of God, to rescue us who are made in the image of God; as it says, " Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. " (Hebrews 2:14-15)
For Jesus became man to rescue mankind, and He died a death to rescue from death. For the bronze image was a serpent to save from the serpent, and the image was dead to save from the peril of death.
And yes, the representation on the stick which Moses lifted up was a serpent. So the one who has been rendered powerless by the cross is satan, the serpent, that ancient dragon of old. For although Christ was lifted up on the cross, He did not suffer defeat by the cross; it was the serpent who was defeated, for Christ was raised to new life, and He never dies again; it was the serpent who suffered the head wound, and Christ's heel was bruised (Genesis 3:15). So this is why we see a serpent lifted up during the time of Israel's wanderings in the desert; for Christ was glorified through the cross, and satan was defeated by the cross. We may be full of fear looking upon Christ on the cross because of our great sin and God's wrath toward sin, but we must look and trust that if we look upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we will be saved - we will surely have life. "I want to look away: I see my failings, I see my faults, I see death; I see the burden of my sin, my punishment for sin; but the more I look, the more I see, and I see that Jesus is for me; I see the great love of His kindness; I see the deliverance from my sin; He has made me right in His sight, and now I can truly see!" We will all die one day, but those who die in the Lord will sleep and awake on the last day. Everyone dies, but He who looks upon Jesus crucified, through the eyes of faith, when he dies, he sleeps - for he is alive to God through faith, having loved Him although not seeing Him. The one who loves God is known by Him; and the one known by Him is His child; such a one will be raised up on the last day to eternal life by the Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. The eyes of faith are sharpened through hearing God's Word; and our faith in Him who is unseen should be as strong as if we have seen Him; as Paul said to the Galatians (New Living Translation), " For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross." (Galatians 3:1)
For faith is the conviction of things unseen and the assurance of things hoped for. Don't be led astray by seeking for images of Christ, thinking that is faith - it is not. For faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God. We walk by faith, not by sight, and so, faith and sight are opposites. Faith is from hearing God's Word, and if God is gracious to us, perhaps we may see a miracle; however it's unbelieving to seek for such miracles and signs, for everything we need is already given. There is a great blessing to us who believe without seeing; as Christ says, " Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)
(See more about Spiritual Sight)
We should not be distressed or angry with ourselves on account of Christ's death because it was according to God's predetermined plan that He died for us; also He was raised from the dead and He no longer suffers death. Rather we should fear God, knowing the penalty for our sins that He Himself bore; we should hate sin which crushed Him, for when we sinned, He was bruised; He did this on account of His great love towards us to rescue us from bondage to sin. And we see this in Joseph, the son of Jacob, who prophesied to Christ with his life, for he was sold into slavery to Egypt by his own brothers; before these things occurred, God gave Joseph a dream of his brothers bowing down to him; at that time, the meaning of the dream was hidden from his eyes, for it was a parable; in the same way, God has hidden parables throughout His Word which testify to the truth; they have always been there, but their meaning has been concealed. So we see Joseph; and through the words of Joseph he testified that it was God's good plan to send him to Egypt to preserve life, not to destroy it; as Joseph said to his brothers, " I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:4-5)
And so likewise, Christ was betrayed by His own brothers, the Jews, and they sold Him over to the Gentiles to be crucified - and all this was foretold by God beforehand, but the meaning was hidden from them. It was God's predetermined plan for good, having testified beforehand by the Psalms and the Prophets, by the acts of men of old, for prophets also performed acts before the people (The prophets Ezekiel, Hosea, and Zechariah for example). As one of the prophets, Isaiah, says, " The LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting [Him] to grief; If He would render Himself [as] a guilt offering, He will see [His] offspring, He will prolong [His] days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. " (Isaiah 53:10)
As it says, "The LORD was pleased to crush Him", for it was God's good plan to send Christ into the world to die for us. And so, God sent Jesus into the world for our good, to save life rather than destroy it. He left witness for us to receive Him by faith in these latter days; and these are preserved through the writings. He also preserved the testimonies of the apostles who seen the risen Lord firsthand. So although when we come to love Christ, we also come to hate ourselves because of our many sins, namely what they have done to Christ; but we find power in that Christ is alive from the dead, seated at the right hand of Power on High, and that it was according to God's good plan for Jesus to die for us. Even if our eyes may be veiled for a time, they become unvieled when we turn to the Lord. Therefore, unveil your eyes by turning to Him and see that your Brother is now alive, second in command, mediator between us and God, that He is very much alive and your guilt has been removed; for Joseph's brothers had guilt as long as they thought Joseph was dead, but the moment they seen Joseph alive, their guilt was removed and their hands cleansed from his blood. See now, Jesus is for you, and He does not seek revenge because of your transgressions that He bore, but He even intercedes on your behalf before the Father. So prove yourself innocent in the matter by fleeing to Christ for refuge in the heavenly places where He is now seated, setting your mind on the things above, not on the things below.