10 Old Testament Appearances Of Jesus You May Have Missed

Reading the Bible is thrilling! There is no greater investment you can make in your life than spending time in the word of God and no greater joy than discovering Jesus woven into the very fabric of Scripture, just as He Himself declared: “The Scriptures testify about me” (John 5:39).

The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, unveils Him as its central figure—Old Testament as Jesus concealed, New Testament as Jesus revealed.

Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search it out,” and what a treasure we experience in this pursuit!

The Bible isn’t just a collection of stories; it’s a divine declaration of who God says He truly is and who He says we truly are in Him.

Here are just 10 remarkable places where Jesus appears in the Old Testament that you may have missed, enjoy!

1. The Rock That Gave Water

• Old Testament Reference: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink’” (Numbers 20:8, NIV). Also, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Exodus 17:6, ESV).
• New Testament Reference: “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4, ESV).
• Significance: The rock symbolizes Christ, who provides spiritual sustenance, likened to “living water” for salvation.

2. Melchizedek

• Old Testament Reference: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:18-20, NIV). Also, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High… Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever” (Hebrews 7:1-3, NIV).
• Significance: Melchizedek prefigures Christ’s eternal priesthood and His offering of bread and wine, echoing holy communion.

3. The Bronze Serpent

• Old Testament Reference: “So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived” (Numbers 21:9, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “And 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, ESV).
• Significance: The serpent lifted up for healing foreshadows Christ’s crucifixion, where looking to Him brings eternal life and healing.

4. The Passover Lamb

• Old Testament Reference: “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household… Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs” (Exodus 12:3, 7, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29, NIV). Also, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7, NIV).
• Significance: The lamb’s blood spared the Israelites from death, prefiguring Christ’s sacrifice for humanity’s redemption.

5. Isaac’s Near-Sacrifice

• Old Testament Reference: “Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you’… Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:2, 13, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: Implied in “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).
• Significance: Isaac as the “only son” and the ram as a substitute parallel God’s provision of Jesus as the ultimate substitute and sacrifice for all who believe and rely upon Him for forgiveness and eternal life.

6. Joseph

• Old Testament Reference: “Joseph’s brothers… sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28, NIV). Later, “Then Joseph said to his brothers… ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’” (Genesis 50:19-20, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: No direct quote, but typologically linked to Christ’s betrayal and redemptive role (e.g., Acts 2:23-24).
• Significance: Joseph’s suffering and rise to save those who initially rejected and dishonored him mirror Christ’s rejection and salvation for us.

7. The Day of Atonement

• Old Testament Reference: “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain… He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head” (Leviticus 16:15, 21, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here… He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12, NIV).
• Significance: The sacrificial goat and scapegoat prefigure Christ’s dual role as sin-bearer and atoning sacrifice. Jesus became our eternal, once and for all substitute and sacrifice.

8. The Manna from Heaven

• Old Testament Reference: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread”’… That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp” (Exodus 16:11-13, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die” (John 6:48-50, NIV).
• Significance: Manna foreshadows Christ and His Word as the true sustenance for this life and for eternal life.

9. Jonah in the Fish

• Old Testament Reference: “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40, NIV).
• Significance: Jonah’s time in the fish prefigures Christ’s death and resurrection after three days.

10. The Suffering Servant

• Old Testament Reference: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed… He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:5, 7, NIV).
• New Testament Reference: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’” (1 Peter 2:24, NIV).
• Significance: This prophecy is seen as fulfilled in Christ’s suffering and atonement for humanity’s sins.

Let me know what you think, and even other places in scripture that reveal Jesus to you! What are some of your favorite scriptures?

Let’s pray: Lord, thank you for your word, and the hope and encouragement we receive as we discover you afresh in your word. Your word truly is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Thank you for revealing your love to us and for the great plans you have in us and through us in Jesus name, amen!