Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square8:52
Significance
Primary analogy: looking at the bronze serpent brought physical life; looking in faith at the crucified Son of Man brings eternal life. Secondary parallel: Israel's sin/judgment requiring a divine remedy mirrors humanity's predicament. "Lifted up" (ὑψόω) carries a double sense — crucifixion and exaltation — the exaltation register being drawn in from Isaiah's Suffering Servant language rather than from Numbers 21 itself. First of three "lifted up" sayings in John (cf. 8:28; 12:32).