Lev 23:41 You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.'"  44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
 
 
I.        BACKGROUND OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
 
A.   Names:  The Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Booths or Succot. OT:5521  (sook-kaw'); fem of OT:5520; a hut or lair:  KJV - booth, cottage, covert, pavilion, tabernacle, tent. It was also called the feast of the nations and the feast of ingathering. 
 
B.   God's plan for Israel was for them to bring the nations to Him.  Which will eventually happen.  On Yom Kippur Israel was to make atonement for themselves so that 5 days later as priests they could make atonement one bull for every nation  for the 70 nations.  That is why they slayed 70 bulls.  Israel was always called to bring salvation to the nations. 
 
C.   These feasts were to be kept at the "appointed time".
 
Lev 23:4 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. NKJV
 
Jer 8:7 "Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times: and the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord.  NKJV
 
Ge 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for appointed times (seasons), and for days, and years: KJV
 
OT:4150   mowed` (mo-ade'); or moed` (mo-ade'); or (feminine) mow`adah (2 Ch 8:13) (mo-aw-daw'); from OT:3259; properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):  KJV - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).
 
D.    The purpose of the Feast of Booths was four fold. 
1.     to remind them of their wilderness experience
2.     to remind them of His protection (covering) in the cloud by day and the fire by night when they wandered in the wilderness
3.     to remind them that He tabernacles with them
4.     to prophetically remind them that a day would come when He will forever tabernacle with us and gather all nations to Him
 
E.    Three times He reminds them in verse 42 and 43 that He made them "dwell in booths".
 
F.   It is likely that the Lord was actually born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles thus beginning the fulfillment of tabernacling with us.  He would then have been circumcised on the 8th day of Succot which was also called "the great day of the feast".  It is on this special day of great celebration that the priests would bring up water from the pool of Siloam to pour out on the alter.  It is at this time that Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." 
 
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel .
 
Mt 1:22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel ," which is translated, "God with us." 40 Who Is He? 
 
 
II.                 JESUS AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
 
Jn 7:1  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. 6 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
 
John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast , Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
 
A.   On this last "great day of the feast" they would light four 75 foot lamp stands in the temple courtyard.  They would climb up with ladders and large containers and fill them with oil.  When they were lit it would shine light all over Jerusalem and was able to be seen from miles away. It was on this day that Jerusalem was called "the city of light".  As you continue reading in Jn 8:1 Jesus goes out of the city that night to the Mount of Olives and comes back into the city the next morning and declares that He is the Light of the world. 
 
Jn 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"   6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."  12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world . He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
 
B.    It is in this very context of Him announcing that He is the Light of the world that He forgives the woman caught in adultery.
 
 
III.   THE ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
 
A.   In these days thousands of Christians from all over the world are coming up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.  There are many tens of thousands more that are celebrating it and teaching about it around the world during these days. 
 
B.   There is yet a future ultimate fulfillment of this feast which is the final feast and the pivotal feast to usher in the reign of Jesus for 1,000 years on the Earth.  As His first advent was during the feast of tabernacles so His second advent will also be at this time. 
 
C.   I personally believe that the gathering of the believers will happen sometime during the Feast of Trumpets which is a two day feast where no one knows the time or the day of His return to gather them.  Then a 10 day period of being with the Lord as He pours out the 7 bowls of wrath brings down Babylon in one hour and destroys the armies of the world that have come up to Armageddon to fight the last great battle for Jerusalem.  He will come in and cleanse the temple on Yom Kippur on that 10th day of Tishrei then 5 days later will be the gathering of all the nations to Him in the feast of Succot.   The Jews will say "blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" when they welcome Him into Jerusalem.  During His first coming He came in to Jerusalem by stealth but this time He will be invited in as we will have the most awesome fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.  
 
Mt 23:38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;  39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  NKJV
 
Rv 22:6-11  Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."  8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." 10 And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."