Moses, told he is about to die, expresses concern for the people he will leave behind. He does not want them to be “like sheep having no shepherd”. In reply, the Lord instructs him to lay hands on Joshua, who will become his successor. Early Christians saw great significance in Joshua (in Greek = Jesus) being designated the one who would lead God’s people into the Promised Land. This foreshadowed our own Good Shepherd, Jesus, who would lay down his life for the sheep.