1) In the Old Testament the bronze snake represented the very thing that was killing them: The Israelites were being bitten by venomous snakes so Moses was told to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole and anyone who was bitten could look at it and live. (Numbers 21:8) 2) In the New Testament Jesus represents the bronze snake: People naturally rebel against God and that bite of sin is death - being separated from God. Jesus was raised up on a pole (the cross) and took upon himself all of humanity's sins. So God's solution is for people to look at Jesus on the cross to be saved: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man (Jesus) must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:14-16)