A Brief Examination of John 3:14-15 And 1 Corinthians 10:2-4

John the Apostle in John 3:14, 15 understood Numbers 21:9 as pointing to Christ.

In Numbers 21:9 the Israelites were complaining against God in the wilderness. They accused Moses of leading them out into the wilderness to die. So, the Lord sent poisonous snakes who bit many Israelites, and they died. When the people repented of their rebellion, God told Moses to make a brass serpent. He was to hang this serpent on a pole. When anyone was bitten, they were saved by looking at the serpent in faith that God would accept them. Moses recorded the event in these words, "And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Then, whenever a serpent bit any man, he would live when he looked up to the bronze serpent." From a New Testament perspective, we can see that this was a typological prophecy pointing forward to Christ. It spoke of how Christ became sin for us and died on the cross. Now anyone could be saved from spiritual death by turning to Him in faith. This is exactly how Christ himself understood the passage. In John 3:14, 15 Jesus told Nicodemus, "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, in the same way man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life." A.J. Moss noted in his book Christ in Type and Prophecy that both the church fathers and several commentators have discussed the importance of the brass serpent as a type of Christ.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:2-4 likewise understood Exodus 17:4-6 as pointing to Christ.

This type was noted in Walter Louis Wilson's book Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types. Look at Exodus 17:4-6. Israel was again complaining bitterly about their lot in the wilderness. Moses didn't know what to do with them, and he prayed to the Lord about it. Exodus records, '"Then Moses cried out to the LORD, 'What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!' The LORD answered Moses, 'Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the rod you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.' Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel." What happened here? Moses took the stick which he used to work miracles at the exodus, and struck a rock in the dry and barren wilderness. The rock was split and a creek flowed out of it that gave water to the Israelites. The rock in the wilderness was a type of Christ. Jesus was struck so that a river of life flowing from Him could give life to His people.

This is how the apostle Paul understood the passage. In 1 Corinthians 10:2-4 Paul wrote, "And all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ." So the rock was a typological symbol pointing to Christ.