At the end of his life Jacob called his sons together, saying, "Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come" (Gen 49:1).
The Hebrew phrase for "in days to come" be'akherit hayyamim, a phrase appearing 14 times in the Old Testament. (the others are Num 24:14; Deut 4:30; 31:29; Is 2:2; Jer 23:20; 48:47; 49:39; Ezek 38:16; Dan 2:28; 10:14; Hos 3:5; Mic 4:1). Many of these passages clearly have an eschatological context.
In this case, Jacob's inspired blessings often point to the future of the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land---e.g., the scattering of Simeon and Levi among the other tribes. But they do in at least one case reach far ahead in the future. The blessing of Judah (vv 8-12) predicts that a line of kings will come from Judah, culminating in one called Shiloh (see KJV).
There is more than one possibility for the meaning of "Shiloh". (This is not the town of Shiloh, or Neal Diamond's imaginary friend Shilo.) It may mean "tribute to him" (see NRSV), or it may mean "the one to whom it belongs (see NIV). Both of these possibilities are consistent with a reference to the coming Messiah, and indeed, Gen 49:10 is seen as a Messianic prophecy in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Targum Onkelos in Gen 49:10 says "until Messiah comes, to whom belongs the kingdom". Gen 49:9-10 is the source for the presentation of the risen Jesus as the lion of Judah in Rev 5.
The poetry in Gen 49 is often cryptic. There is lots of wordplay on the names of Jacob's sons. The dominant themes are royalty, prosperity, and abundance.
John Sailhamer and his students often point out that there are four major poetic passages in the Pentateuch---the others being Exod 15, Num 24, and Deut 32-33---and all contribute to the proclamation of the Gospel. See for example Kevin Chen's wonderful book, The Messianic Vision of the Pentateuch, or Michael Rydelnik's The Messianic Hope.
In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on Feb 6, 2021, Rob Wilson examined the blessings of Gen 49.
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