Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. Colossians 2:16-17
The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) also known as Sukkot in Hebrew, is the Feast of the Lord that is a Fall Feast, and is similar to our Thanksgiving. As Paul pointed out in his letter to the Church at Colossae, the Feasts of the Lord all are a shadow of what is to come, and all point to Yeshua (Jesus) Christ in their substance. Additionally in other passages, Both John and Paul point out specifically how Christ fulfilled the Feast of Passover as our Passover Lamb (John 1:29 and 1 Corinthians 5:7).
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
The Apostle John in his gospel tells us that Jesus (the Word of God) became flesh and dwelt among us, referring to the incarnation of the Lord in human form. This is God as Son, a part of the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John states that Jesus “dwelt among us”. The word for dwelt is skay-no-oh and is the same word as “tabernacle”. It is possible to determine the approximate time of Jesus’ birth (not Christmas time) by following clues in the Bible. The time of His birth falls right in the time frame of the Feast of Tabernacles. Many, including myself, feel that John was using a play on words here to point out that Jesus was born and came to dwell with mankind in human form during Feast of Tabernacles.
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37-38
On each day of the Feast of Tabernacles a burnt offering and a drink offering were offered up to the Lord by the Priest. A priest went down to the Pool of Siloam and withdrew some water into a large gold pitcher. He then returned to the Temple, ascended to the altar, and poured the water on the altar. It was on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, during this ceremonial gathering and offering of the drink offering from the Pool of Siloam, that Jesus cried out “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink!”
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
During the Feast of Tabernacles there were four large lamps erected in the courtyard of the temple. Each lamp was about seventy-five feet tall and had four bowls at the top. The bowls were filled with olive oil, and the wicks for the huge lamps were made from the priests' old worn-out garments, collected throughout the year. The light from the four lamps lit during the Feast of Tabernacles were said to illuminate all of Jerusalem at night. The lamps were symbolic of the shekinah glory which led the Children of Israel at night during the forty-years of wandering in the wilderness. It was during the Feast of Tabernacles, near the temple courtyard, when Jesus said “I am the light of the world…”.
During each of the days of the Feast of Tabernacles, a chapter from Psalms 113-118 is jointly read by everyone. On the last day, Psalm 118 is read aloud. Here is a portion of that reading:
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!" I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:14-24
So much of this Psalm points directly to the salvation of Israel by God, and specifically, to salvation coming through God’s Son Jesus Christ. This is a perfect picture of exactly what will occur during the tribulation period, when the Nation of Israel calls on the Son that they rejected, and the remnant natural branch are grafted back into the olive tree root:
And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Romans 11:23-25
What does the “right hand of God” refer to in Psalm 118? The power and authority of God. And, it could be said that it refers directly to Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God we are told in Peter’s first epistle:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ... through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 1 Peter 3:18-22
The reading from Psalm 118 refers to the Gate of the Lord which the righteous enter into. Who or what is this Gate? It is Jesus Christ, which He Himself attests to:
Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. "All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. "I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. "A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:7-11
Additionally, “the stone that the builders rejected” in Psalm 118 is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, as several verses in the New Testament attest to:
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Matthew 21:42
Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Mark 12:10-11
But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Luke 20:17
This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Acts 4:11
To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 1 Peter 2:7
"And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem 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
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