THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Why, then, O Jew, did Moses act in this manner? How can he, who states in the law, ‘Thou shalt not make ... an image carved, nor a thing sculptured,’ create a serpent? (Num. 21:8) Yet what is the point of addressing such matters to the ungrateful? I will turn to the lawgiver himself. Tell me, most devoted servant of God, why do you engage in that which you prohibit, and craft that which you decry? When you proclaim, ‘Thou shalt not make a carved image, nor a sculptured image,’ how do you then create a likeness of a serpent?
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He responds, 'I have ordained this to eliminate the opportunity for ungodliness, and to guard the people against all forms of idolatry; but now I elevate the serpent to foreshadow the image of the work of the cross; I prefigure the path of the apostles, I symbolize the great and wondrous emblem of the cross. Consider the depiction of the serpent raised on the cross by Moses in the wilderness, as well as the divine Trinity.