The Bronze Snake and John 3:16… A Lesson in Typology

(Editor’s Note: This month’s blog series will help you keep Jesus at the heart of every message by highlighting an approach to biblical interpretation called typlogy. Like most things, there are good examples and bad of how to practice typlogy, and we hope this series will help you honor each text while showing students how it relates to Jesus Christ, the central character of Scripture. Visit here to see other YPT articles and podcasts about Typology.)

Studying typology is like discovering buried treasure. Though I have never personally unearthed a chest of gold, this thrill of discovery is familiar to anyone who has suddenly understood a mysterious concept in Scripture. There is a new significance added when you finally see how a person, event, or institution in the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. What once seemed ordinary or unimportant is, in fact, full of theological significance.

This is the beauty of typology. Like buried treasure, typological patterns are often overlooked, yet when we give careful attention to Scripture, we find these patterns emerge within its redemptive narrative that are designed to point us to Christ. These patterns are no accident; God intended for these connections to be uncovered, understood, and proclaimed. For those of us entrusted with teaching the Bible to youth, few moments are more rewarding than helping them see how the Old Testament bears witness to Jesus Christ in ways they had never noticed before. Just as these discoveries can transform our reading of the text, teaching these typological patterns can also help us share the gospel in youth ministry. 

Here are a couple of principles to remember as we seek to practice biblical typology well, using John 3:14-16 as an example: 

Typology reveals all of Scripture is about the gospel 

Jesus interprets the Old Testament typologically, demonstrating that without these patterns, we cannot fully grasp the redemptive arc of Scripture. A prime example of this is found in John chapter 3. We find perhaps the most famous gospel-saturated verse in the Bible in this chapter: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). Students are likely familiar with this verse, yet they may have missed its chief purpose: John 3:16 functions primarily as an explanation supporting Jesus’ claim made in John 3:14-15. 

What is the claim? That there is a theological connection between the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 and Jesus’ impending death on the cross. In this famous nighttime rendezvous with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, Jesus explained that to understand who He is and what He came to accomplish, we should look to the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 as a “type of himself.” The bronze serpent showed what type of salvation by faith God would later provide through Jesus’ death on the cross. 

At this point, students may wonder how that story helps us understand Christ. Fair question. With Jesus as our guide, we can see how to teach students to recognize these patterns themselves.

Typology recognizes patterns; it doesn’t force connections.

When questions arise, it’s helpful to lead students how to recognize, interpret, and apply typology properly. Below are a few helpful recommendations:

Do

1. Start with the Old Testament on its own terms. Explain what the passage meant in its original context before moving to Christ.

2. Let the New Testament lead the connection. Gravitate toward types that Scripture itself identifies (explicitly or through clear patterns).

3. Emphasize the escalation. Show how Christ surpasses the Old Testament type, not merely repeats it. The type (Old Testament person, event, or institution) foreshadows the antitype (the fulfillment it points to).

4. Name the limits. Be clear about what the text does not say or support.

Don’t

1. Don’t make every detail symbolic. Don’t turn typology into allegory by assigning meaning to every little detail. For example, the material used to make the serpent on the pole is not intended to enhance understanding of Christ. If the connection requires a big imagination and lots of explanation to “work”, it probably isn’t typological.

2. Don’t skip exegesis to make a point. Rushing through Christ-connections can model bad Bible-reading habits and will lead to misinterpretation. The Bible is God’s Word. That means we should honor the text rather than twisting it to reach the conclusion we desire (even if that desired interpretation concerns Jesus). 

3. Don’t treat types as predictions. Types are patterns in history, not merely prophecies. Again, think about how typology reveals patterns regarding what “type” of salvation God will provide through Jesus, or why that salvation is necessary in the first place. 

4. Don’t consider your guess a certainty. Distinguish between “the Bible shows” and “this may suggest.” Types are clarified by Scripture, not invented by the reader. Make sure to build your message around what the text plainly says, rather than what you think might be a typological connection. 

Numbers 21:4-9: Typological Connections from Jesus Himself

Let’s see these principles in action as Jesus walks Nicodemus through a typological connection. 

Jesus points to the bronze serpent in the wilderness as a type that finds its greater fulfillment in himself. He does this to help Nicodemus, a Pharisee educated in biblical studies, understand who He is and what He came to accomplish. Numbers 21:4-9 records that when the people complained against Moses and God, the Lord sent venomous snakes, and many of the rebellious people of Israel died as a result. Those remaining alive confessed their sin and asked Moses to intercede for them. God instructed Moses: “Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live” (Num 21:8). 

Referencing this event to Nicodemus, Jesus states: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). In this case, the type is the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole. Israel was experiencing real judgment for their sin and rebellion, and they were helpless to save themselves. God provided a means of deliverance that was both unexpected and exclusive. It is unexpected in that the sign of deliverance was an image of what brought death. It is exclusive because it is the only way they can live. Deliverance became available for those who looked to God’s means of salvation.

Jesus identifies himself as the antitype. Christ does not merely resemble the bronze serpent; he fulfills and surpasses it. Just as the serpent was lifted up publicly, Christ would be lifted up on the cross. Just as the people were under the sentence of death, humanity stands under divine judgment for sin. Just as life came through looking to God’s means of deliverance in faith, eternal life comes through looking to and believing in the crucified Son. 

This example helps us show our students just how typology works. Because the earlier event was intentionally designed by God to point forward, the bronze serpent’s significance becomes clear in light of what Christ accomplished on the cross. The antitype does not diminish the dignity and value of the type, but reveals its true meaning. Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus shows that these patterns are not accidental or arbitrary but are present in the text by God’s design. They are intended to give us a fuller understanding of who Christ is and what he accomplished, which is the message of the gospel.  

How typology matters for students now

The treasure has been unearthed. Lying in John 3:16 is Christ’s typological fulfillment of the bronze serpent of Numbers 21. But this is not just an exercise in biblical interpretation. By drawing the connection between Numbers 21 and John 3, we have opened their eyes and hearts to the way we can now apply the text. The “so” in “For God so loved the world” isn’t about the extent of God’s love (“God loves us sooooo much!”), but about the means (“God loved the world through the lifting up of Jesus, just like he loved the Israelites by the lifting up of the bronze snake”). By understanding the typological connection, John 3:16 makes it clear that Jesus’ death on the cross is the primary example of God’s love for the world. 

From now on, when they read John 3:16, they will see that strange story take on new meaning. Likewise, when they read Numbers 21, they will not only think of God’s physical deliverance through the bronze serpent, but God’s ultimate deliverance through the cross of Jesus Christ.