The feast of Tabernacles, also referred to as sukkot is a feast that all people are commanded to keep by Adonai. Sukkoth comes from the word sukkah, which means booths or a temporary shelter. Therefore, during this feast, believers live in temporary shelters such as tents to serve as a remembrance of the forty years that children of Israel were forced to live in booths while in the wilderness before getting to the Promised Land. It is a reminder of how temporal our lives are here on earth and how we await for our final redemption at the revelation of Yahshua in his second coming.
Sukkot is an 8 day holiday, starting from 15th to 22nd Ethanim (the biblical name for 7th month-1st kings 8:2), with the first and eighth day as high day Sabbaths as captured in Leviticus 23:39-43. No ordinary work is done on the high days of the feast.
God’s plan for bringing salvation to mankind is founded on the biblical feasts. Yahshua has already fulfilled the first four feasts (springtime feasts) expounded in Leviticus 23:1, i.e the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of first fruits, and the feast of Shavuot. He fulfilled them with great precision and we can only expect the same to happen for the Fall-feasts, when He comes to gather in harvest and establish his kingdom on earth. Concerning the day of His second coming, Paul explains in Philippians 2: 10 that Yahshua will reign from Jerusalem and “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, in heaven and on earth and below the earth-that Yahshua the Messiah is Adonai, to the glory of God the Father.” At that time, when everything will be made new, Yahshua will tabernacle with his people.
All the time that the children of Israel were in the wilderness, Elohim protected them from all sorts of dangers found in the desert and provided for all their needs. He provided delicious food called manna from heaven; also water gushed out of the rock to quench their thirst (1 Corinthians 10:4) and healed them when they were sick. This symbolism is meant to help us remember that we cannot depend on our wealth but have to wait upon Elohim for our needs and survival. It is reminder that Elohim is our source of protection and provision.
The feast of Tabernacles is a time for joy, to celebrate in the place where Elohim will choose (Deuteronomy 16:15). As a matter of fact, sukkot is the most joyous feast among all the other biblical celebrations. It is a time to rejoice with the less fortunate amongst us such as the poor, the widows, the orphans among others (Deuteronomy 16:14).
The Israelites used to go up to Jerusalem and erect their sukkah where they would dwell during the entire feast (John 7:1, verses 10, 14, 37). Keeping sukkot also reminds us that we earnestly await the final rest where we will tabernacle with Yahshua in the millennial age. This is in accordance to what apostle Paul encourages us in Colossians 2:17 that keeping the appointed days of Elohim are a shadow of the things to come. There is a special blessing for everyone who keeps the feasts of Elohim and we therefore invite all to come and celebrate with us.