We poke holes in lots of things. A seamstress pokes holes in fabric to bind the cloth with thread. A wildcatter hopes for oil from his holes in the ground. A teenager wants holes in his ears or nose to express himself to the world.
Sometimes we lance holes into festering wounds to allow rot to escape.
What about our nation’s flag? Without holes, we can’t hang it from a pole for the world to see. We put holes in walls to hang decorations, and what would a donut be without its hole?
Even Jesus was pierced with nail holes to hang on the cross. We read of the event’s foretelling in Numbers 21:8-9:
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass that everyone who is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it on a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
We’ve been pierced with the stain of sin. The serpent brought temptation to the Garden of Eden, and humanity stumbled into the creature’s lair. Satan bit, his fangs piercing humanity’s flesh, and we’ve been in decay ever since.
Christ reversed our downward spiral when he was pierced on the cross. Humanity recognizes the representation of Christ found in the serpent on the pole. The medical profession today uses that iconic symbol to espouse the healing power of the doctors and nurses that endeavor to cure the sick and wounded among us.
Yet how much more important is it to be healed from sin?
Did Moses truly understand the symbolism of his brass serpent pierced and placed on that pole? We can’t know for sure, but it’s certain God had a vision for the salvation of mankind. Today we recognize the symbols of the pole that stands for the cross and the serpent that is our sin nailed to the tree forevermore. The manifestations of the Israelites’ physical healing point directly to our spiritual healing given to us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
They are truly one and the same, in every way that matters.
When we poke the right holes, out comes the saving power of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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Code: FGO.E.16.15.vp.kjv