Poet and musician, Michael Card, wrapped up the symbolism of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:9 beautifully:

"The symbol of their suffering was now the focus of their faith."¹ Only God could take the symbol of all our suffering, guilt, diseases, and tears, and turn that into the means of salvation, His eternal Son, hanging on a cross.

1. "Lift Up the Suffering Symbol" (1989), recorded on The Ancient Faith (Nashville: Myrrh, 1989).