Just by skimming the letter, it is soon clear the author relies heavily on references to the religious rituals (the cultus) of Israel as they provide the all-important ‘types’ or ‘shadows for his thesis. The ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ is of particular interest to him as it foreshadows the ‘harvest’ of grace the church is to reap in the endtimes. And because the ministrations of the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on the ‘Day of Atonement’ provide the typology for the hope of reaching perfection we find most references highlight the High Priest’s sacramental duties on this ‘day’. Unless attention is given to the rituals performed then it is impossible to fathom the purpose for his ‘letter’; surprisingly, a ‘marker’ many commentaries fail to notice.
THE FEAST OF PASSOVER (LEV 23.5-14)
Before looking at this Feast of Tabernacles, some explanation of the typology found in the other two feasts is in order. Also of note: besides celebrating the harvests, two feasts are associated with major historical events in the life of the nation. The Feast of Passover, the first of these, commemorates the ‘exodus’ from Egyptian bondage. (Its name comes from the angel ‘passing over’ their houses.) However, its main purpose was to celebrate the barley harvest; the first sheaves of grain were waved before the Lord three days after the (Passover) meal of roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread. All these are ‘s hadows of the good things to come’ (Heb 10.1) and historically fulfilled by Christ Jesus when, as the ‘lamb which takes away the sin of the world’ (Jhn 1.29), He endured the
‘fire’ of Calvary and was ‘waved’ before God after ‘rising’
from the grave on the third day. This feast, then, typifies the first ‘installment’ of salvation received in the new covenant
when a believer repents, ‘partakes' of Christ by faith and is
‘raised up’ in Him from the waters of baptism.
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (LEV 23.15-22)
Observed fifty days after the waving of the barley sheaf, this feast celebrated the more valuable grain harvest of wheat.
Its date in the calendar also coincided with a historic event, the giving of ‘the Law’ at Mt Sinai when Israel entered into a covenant with the Lord God. On this day, two loaves of ground wheat and leaven were baked to be waved before the Lord and was historically fulfilled on the same day it was celebrated (Acts 2.1ff). The event when the Holy Spirit was sovereignly poured out on the disciples in the upper room. It is fulfilled personally by experiencing the ‘Baptism with (of) the Holy Spirit’, the second installment of the ‘great salvation’ in the new covenant.
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES (Lev 23.23-43)
Because it is of special interest, this feast in the seventh month of the sacred year (summer) calls for some extended treatment. It celebrated the ingathering of the harvest of late summer ‘fruit’—nuts, figs, grapes, pomegranates, and olives—
and had three distinct rituals for the nation to observe. In the first of these—the ‘Blowing of Trumpets’—two silver trumpets were blown on the first day of this seventh month to announce the start of a new civil year (as opposed to sacred); but to also alert the nation to prepare for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high holy ‘ day’ ten days later. The ‘day’ when the nation was to ‘afflict its soul’ and the High Priest went into the innermost Holy of Holies to offer the crucial sacrifices to atone (cover) for sins committed in the past year . First, by sprinkling sacrificial blood around the furniture of the Holy Place (the first inner sanctuary) before entering the innermost Holy of Holies to sprinkle it before the ‘Mercy Seat’. A ritual he
performed on this one day of the year after a cloud of incense protected him from the ‘shekinah’ presence of God.
Hence, he entered twice into the Holy of Holies, first to atone for his own sin and for the sins of the nation on his second entrance. After completing these duties and exiting these inner rooms, he, therefore, appeared twice to the waiting congregation. But his appearance for the second time’ (9.28) was the most significant because only then could the congregation be confident the rituals had been properly observed and their sins were covered. Hence, this second appearance was greeted with a great shout of jubilation as the
‘scapegoat' could then be sent with their sins into the wilderness—it was the climax of this holy ‘day’.
The third element in this harvest celebration was an actual feast the nation observed for seven days while living in tabernacles or booths erected on housetops or in the fields.
Though living in these flimsy shelters was mainly to celebrate God’s goodness for the fruit harvest, it also was a salutary reminder of the nation’s journey through the wilderness and to always regard themselves as ‘sojourners’ on earth.
THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS LAST FEAST
The church, corporately and individually, has already experienced what is foreshadowed in the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost, but not so with this third feast. Why? Because, in large part, it typifies the installment of salvation yet to come, the final deposit of grace promised for this dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Yet typology expositors interpret incorrectly when they put its fulfillment off into the next age (heaven or the millennium). It commits the same folly as King Jeroboam when he instituted the counterfeit religion in the northern kingdom and postponed the celebration of this feast into the eighth month—outside the sacred year (1Kgs 12.26-33).
Putting into another age what God wants the church to enjoy in
this ‘sacred age’ robs the church of its true hope. To sum up: all three feasts typify the ‘great salvation’ the church receives (minus the ‘r edemption of the body’ (Eph 1.14)) in this current age. Hence, until this final deposit of salvation is received, the installment ‘ready to be revealed in the last time’ (1Pet 1.5), believers must be very patient.
THE HIGH PRIEST’S MINISTRY
The central feature of this feast is undoubtedly the High Priest’s ministry inside the Holy of Holies on the ‘Day of Atonement’. The rituals he performed then were of inestimable importance to the nation; on that ‘day’, his ministry reached its zenith. Now, Christ fulfilled the typology of the second sacrifice for sins by offering His own blood in the true Holy of Holies. (Because He was sinless, the first offering was not needed.) The ritual referred to in the passage (Phil 2.5-8) by Paul where he alludes to how Christ divested himself of the
‘glorious High Priestly garments’ to become a human being in
‘plain linen attire’ (Lev 16.1ff). In other words, the humiliation and condescension of Christ so He could fulfill the duties of the High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies.
‘To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation’ (9.28) . Christ’s return to earth to fulfill the High Priest’s appearance for the
‘second time’ is the next major event in the divine calendar. As the text above reveals, an appearance connected with the final installment of ‘ salvation’—not for ‘sin’ as it was under the Mosaic covenant. An appearance the church waits expectantly for (as the verse above makes clear) because it has the final deposit of grace propelling believers to full maturity. In fact, this hope is the ‘ anchor for the soul’ (6.19) every believer needs to keep them steady and moored so they won’t ‘drift away’ (2.1.NIV) in the coming tumultuous time. Never doubt, then, the importance of having this hope in your heart.