What does the author imply when he says that the staff assumed life in "Young Goodman Brown"?

In
Hawthorne's classic short story "," Goodman meets the devil in the forest as he is
traveling to the Black Mass. The devil, who assumes the appearance of an older Goodman Brown,
carries a black serpentine staff with him. The black staff resembles a large snake and seems to
wriggle itself like a living serpent. When Goody Cloyse meets the devil in the forest, she
complains about losing her broomstick and the devil proceeds to lend her his staff. Hawthorne
then writes,

So saying, he threw it down at her feet,
where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the
Egyptian magi. (4)

Hawthorne is implying that staff is
alive and takes the form of a serpent. He is also alluding to the staff of Moses, which
miraculously transformed into a snake and back. Unlike Moses's staff, the devil's staff
transports Goody Cloyse to the Black Mass. Goodman is astonished to see the traveler standing
alone after Goody Cloyse miraculously disappears with the devil's staff.