The last fall feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, began Sunday night October 9th throughout the world and continues 8 days until Sunday night October 16. God’s ultimate plan for the foundation of the world has always been to tabernacle or dwell with His people. This feast looks back to the time in which God led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years, providing them with every need on a daily basis—shelter, food, water, clothing and shoes that did not wear out. Deut. 16:15 says “Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD they God in the place which the LORD shall choose; because the LORD they God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.”
God gave Moses the instructions of building a tent of meeting that was called a tabernacle. The tent of meeting brought God to the earth. God was no longer in the heavens; He was with His people. It pointed to the coming of Jesus and every detail was a foreshadowing of Him. John 1: 14 says that the Word dwelt among us—literally “tabernacled among us” or “pitched a tent among us.” Jesus is Immanuel—"God with us.” The tabernacle was a big tent that the Israelites were told to take with them on their journey to the Promised Land. The tabernacle was the holy place where the LORD dwelt to be present with His people, to guard and guide them to forgive their sins, to hear their prayers, and to manifest His presence and His glory to reassure them and give them confidence to go forward. The tabernacle was the place where sacrifices and offerings were made, to atone for sin and to remove guilt and uncleanness.
The Old Testament Tabernacle is fulfilled in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the presence of God in our midst. Think about Jesus as the Tabernacle. (1) The Tabernacle was for use in the wilderness: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Mt. 4:1) (2) The Tabernacle was outwardly humble and unattractive: “He has not stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (Isa. 53:2) (3) The Tabernacle was the center of Israel’s camp, a gathering place for God’s people: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12: 32) (4) The Tabernacle was a place of worship: “My Lord and My God” (Jn. 20: 28) (5) The offerings of the Tabernacle: He is the all-atoning, all-availing sacrifice for our sins. Our guilt and our uncleanness are removed and washed away by the blood of the Lamb—Christ, the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. We are sinful, but Christ as the Tabernacle has brought God to us. Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (Jn. 14:6)
Today the Jewish people build temporary shelters or booths during the Feast of Tabernacles to celebrate how they dwelt in the wilderness in tents after God brought them out of Egyptian slavery. So how important is the Feast of Tabernacle to us today? God wants to remind us all each year at this appointed time that both the earth and our mortal bodies are also only temporary dwelling places. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:1 that when our earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, there’s one waiting for us in the heavens built by God. Christ comes to us with God, and Christ goes back to God with us. In other words, by His coming He brings God to us, and by His going He brings us to God. In John 14: 3 Jesus said “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The Feast of Tabernacles is a time for Christians to rejoice that one day Jesus will come for His Bride the Church and we will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It will be a fulfilment for both Jews and Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom as Jesus will reign for a 1000 years. Let’s celebrate it now as we await that day!