My daughter was recently commenting on how it seems ironic that many people would never consider naming their child 'Jesus', yet have no trouble naming their child 'Joshua', even though the two names are effectively the same. Here is a brief definition to explain this for those that are interested:
Yeshua was a common alternative form of the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ("Yehoshuah" – Joshua). The name corresponds to the Greek spelling Iesous, from which, through the Latin Iesus, comes the English spelling Jesus. (Thanks Wikipedia – sometimes you get it right!)
This got me thinking about the "Old Testament Joshua". Joshua was selected by Moses as his 'right-hand man' - Moses was sort of a 'father-figure' to him. In Deuteronomy 3:28 God says to Moses: "But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”
So the "Old Testament Yeshua" (Joshua) was commissioned by his 'father in the faith' to go and show God's people the way to the Promised Land. The "New Testament Yeshua" (Jesus) was also commissioned by His Father to go and show God's people the Way to the Promised Land.
This is just one example of many where the Old Testament provides a 'shadow' or symbol of what was to come when the One True Yeshua would come down as our Messiah, Savior, and Lord.
Of course, Jesus can be found throughout both the Old and New Testaments for those that are willing to look (and how could it be otherwise? After all, He is the Word of God)!
I don't know about you, but I love seeing the way God gave all these symbols and clues hundreds and hundreds of years before the "Baby in the manger scene" that started the most pivotal time in all of human history.