Num 21:8-9, 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”
Israel spoke against God and His servant Moses. In an act of judgment, God sent snakes and many died from their bites. In their repentance, “8… the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” This was a spectacular miracle, a picture of Christ dying on the cross to give life to those bit by sin, (John 3:13-15).
This bronze serpent was for a time, and for a season with it’s significance not to be repeated. It was a symbol to point and not an object to be revered. In 2Kin 18:4 the brazen serpent had been carefully preserved, as a memorial of God’s goodness to their fathers in the wilderness and a means for the new generation to build their faith to trust God. But then Hezekiah destroyed it. What was a means and a memorial had been turned into an object of idol worship. This is the tragedy even in our time, often times we observe what God has used as a means turned into idols (men, material things etc). All these are signs to point us to Jesus who is greater than all deserving our worship.