Object
The Bronze Serpent
Look and live
The shadow (Old Testament)
When Israel grumbled in the wilderness and venomous serpents swept through the camp, the LORD told Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Anyone bitten who simply looked at it lived (Numbers 21:4-9). There was no ceremony, no work — only a look of trust in what God had provided.
- Numbers 21:4-9— The bronze serpent on a pole
The substance (Christ)
Jesus took that very picture and applied it to Himself: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). The cross is the pole; faith is the look.
- John 3:14-15— So must the Son of Man be lifted up
Take it in
Salvation is not by trying harder. It's by looking — believing — on the One lifted up for you.