The Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. If anyone is bitten by a snake, that person should look at the bronze snake on the pole. Then that person will not die.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then when a snake bit anyone, that person looked at the bronze snake on the pole and lived.
Numbers 21:8‭-‬9 ERV
https://bible.com/bible/406/num.21.8-9.ERV

I have heard that the bronze snake on a pole was symbolic of when Jesus would die on the cross and all who look to Jesus can be saved… but I still wondered why a snake???? Couldn’t it have been anything else???

My light bulb moment: a snake represented the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden; their sin and their punishment. But, those who trusted God’s provision for healing and help looked to the bronze snake and now the snake has a new meaning. Now it became hope for healing and restoration! God can take all our “triggers” and give them a new meaning, one that gives us hope!