God's Feast Days

The Meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles

What is the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles?

If you ask a Christian, they will say, “I don’t know.”

If you ask a Jew, they will say it is a reminder of the 40 years that the Israelites lived in tents in the wilderness.

If you ask anyone else, they will say, “The feast of what?”

But the Bible says that that soon, “everyone who is left from all the nations which came up to Jerusalem [to fight Jesus when He returns] shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16).

God will require all nations to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and He will withhold rain from any nation that does not keep this feast (Zechariah 14:17-19).

For some reason, the Feast of Tabernacles is very important to God.

But why?

What is the real meaning and purpose of this feast?

God’s Feasts Announce the Gospel

When Jesus came to earth, He preached a message that He called the “gospel,” which is just an old word for “good news.”

What was the good news that Jesus preached?

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel!‘” (Mark 1:14-15).

Christ’s gospel was about the Kingdom of God. And that is what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about.

God’s seven annual festivals reveal God’s plan of salvation for the world:

  1. Passover – Christ died for us
  2. Unleavened Bread – We must put out sin and come out of this world
  3. Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Firstfruits) – The gift of the holy spirit and God’s harvest of the firstfruits (the saints)
  4. Trumpets – Jesus will return to judge the world and resurrect the saints
  5. Atonement – Satan will be banished and Jesus will redeem the whole world from sin
  6. Tabernacles – Jesus will establish His kingdom on earth, and lead the whole world for 1000 years
  7. The Eighth Day – Jesus will resurrect everyone, offer a first chance of salvation to those who were blinded, and bring an end to death

The last four feasts mirror the sequence of events revealed in the book of Revelation:

  1. Trumpets (Revelation 8:1-16:16)
  2. Atonement (Revelation 16:17-20:3)
  3. Tabernacles (Revelation 20:4-6)
  4. The Eighth Day (Revelation 20:7-22:17)

The Millennium

In the book of Revelation, we see that Feast of Tabernacles corresponds to the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth. This is how it is described:

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

This is what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about—the 1000-year rule of Christ. This time period is often called the Millennium, which means 1000 years.

The Book of Revelation describes the Millennium in just three verses. And it really doesn’t need to provide any more details, because the details of the Millennium are revealed in more than a hundred prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures.

Study Guide for the Feast of Tabernacles

Ask God for understanding.

Read What Is the Kingdom of God?

Study and meditate on these scriptures during the 7 days of the feast:

Isaiah

  • Isaiah 2:1-4
  • Isaiah 9:6-7
  • Isaiah 11:1-16
  • Isaiah 14:1-2
  • Isaiah 19:18-25
  • Isaiah 29:17-21
  • Isaiah 30:18-26
  • Isaiah 32:1-8, 16-20
  • Isaiah 33:17-24
  • Isaiah 35:1-10
  • Isaiah 43:1-7
  • Isaiah 51:1-16
  • Isaiah 56:1-8
  • Isaiah 60-62
  • Isaiah 65:17-25
  • Isaiah 66:10-24

Jeremiah

  • Jeremiah 23:1-8
  • Jeremiah 30-31
  • Jeremiah 33:6-26

Ezekiel

  • Ezekiel 11:16-21
  • Ezekiel 20:40-44
  • Ezekiel 28:25-26
  • Ezekiel 34:11-31
  • Ezekiel 36
  • Ezekiel 37:15-28

Ezekiel 40-48 describe Jerusalem and the temple during the Millennium. Here are a few highlights:

  • Ezekiel 43:1-12
  • Ezekiel 44:4-24
  • Ezekiel 45:21-25
  • Ezekiel 47:1-12, 21-23
  • Ezekiel 48:30-35

Daniel

  • Daniel 2:34, 44
  • Daniel 7:13-14, 23-27
  • Daniel 12:13

The 12 minor prophets

  • Hosea 1:10-2:1
  • Hosea 2:14-23
  • Hosea 3:4-5
  • Hosea 14
  • Joel 3:18-21
  • Amos 9:11-15
  • Obadiah 17-21
  • Micah 2:12-13
  • Micah 4
  • Micah 5:2-4
  • Micah 7:14-20
  • Zephaniah 3:8-19
  • Haggai 2:6-9
  • Zechariah 14:16-21

(more coming soon)

The writings of the apostles

  • Revelation 5:10

(more coming soon)

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How to Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles