We think we know what we're doing but we don't. Jacob loved Joseph and his mother Rachael, but God used his son Judah to be the Father of David and thus Christ

Jacob blesses the 12 tribes of Israel.

 Bible Gateway Link (Genesis 49 ESV)

This is what he says about Joseph, the son of the love of his life Rachael, his second wife:

Genesis 49:22-26

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, 

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    a fruitful bough by a spring;
    his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
    shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet his bow remained unmoved;
    his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
    (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
    by the Almighty who will bless you
    with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
    blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
    are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
    up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
    and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

This is what he says about Judah, the son of his unloved first wife Leah:

Genesis 49:8-10 

8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.