Moses was told by God to make a bronze serpent and put it on a rod so that anyone who had been bitten could look at the rod and not die. The Isrealites had been complaining and The Lord sent poisonous snakes. The bronze snake became a way for those who repentented to be saved. It was a symbolic foretelling of Christ. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish".