Serpents represent what we know from our bodily senses, and the reasoning based on our senses. Since the people of the Most Ancient Church had become more external, they were susceptible to the lure of trusting their senses more than they trusted the leading of the Lord. That was particularly true for the sense of self the people had been given, which is represented by the woman. Eating of the trees in the garden represented taking in desires for good and true ideas from the knowledge granted them by the Lord.

So here, for the first time, we see people, from their own senses, actually questioning the Lord. From their senses they wished to explore the knowledge represented by fruit of the garden, but wondered why they were denied the tree of knowledge.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 194, 195, 196, 197)

6951. 'And Jehovah said to Moses' means providence on the part of the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying', when used in reference to Jehovah or the Lord, as foresight, dealt with above in 6946, and as foresight is meant, so also is providence (the two go together, for the Lord's providence is at work in the things He foresees, in that He foresees what is evil, yet provides what is good), and therefore here 'Jehovah said' means providence because now the serpent is turned into a rod, that is, evil is turned into good; and from the representation of 'Moses' as the Lord in respect of God's truth. Thus the expression 'providence on the part of the Divine' is used in reference to the Lord's Human when He was in the world.