The Israelites had escaped Egypt and slavery. The plagues and the flip-flopping Pharaoh. The Passover lamb and the midnight getaway carts. Then God gave them a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and a pillar of fire to give them light at night. Scripture says, “Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”

The one time when we see that pillar change positions is at the Red Sea. The Israelites weren’t free from the Egyptians yet. Pharaoh and his army had pursued the people, and as the Egyptian chariots and their riders approached, “The angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side.” Just think of that pillar of God’s presence getting into a defensive, protective posture!

If you’ve heard the story (or seen the movie), you know that the Lord drove the sea back to make dry land for the people to cross. They had a wall of water on their right and on their left. But the Egyptians stayed hot on their trail. “During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving.”

The Egyptians were drowned and defeated, and the Israelites continued to seek after the promise of the Promised Land. Because they had to stay on the move, following the cloudy or fiery pillar wherever it led, they had to live in tents—temporary shelters that could be set up and taken down quickly. This process was the inspiration for one of the seven feasts God laid out for them to celebrate in Leviticus 23. “At the end of your harvesting, begin to celebrate this seven-day festival before the Lord. On the first day, build shelters. The purpose of this is to remind the people of Israel, generation after generation, that I rescued you from Egypt, and caused you to live in shelters. I am Jehovah your God.”

Once the temple was eventually built and they were no longer a wandering people, the Feast of Tabernacles continued with a few additions. They still built temporary shelters, and they incorporated a water-drawing ceremony and a light ceremony into the week of festivities. For the light ceremony, Levites would climb ladders to reach the sixteen golden bowls which were perched 75 feet in the air. They would fill the bowls with oil and light the wicks. It was said that all of Jerusalem was illuminated by these lamps, the light shining off of the yellow limestone walls. The choirs of Levites would sing praises, and the people would dance and rejoice. The lamps would burn all night.

More than a thousand years later, Jesus stood in the area where the bowls had been burning. The seven-week feast had ended. Sadly, the shelters had been dismantled and put away, like us taking down Christmas lights in January. Part of the people’s collective sadness—if they knew their history—was that in the stories of the time of Moses, the older generations would have taken down their tents and followed God. They would’ve seen where God’s pillars were heading to go in that direction. They would have evidence of God’s continual presence. But in Jesus’ time, they didn’t have that. Somewhere deep in their souls, they were missing it, but Jesus had something to tell the people who remained. “I am the Light of the world,” He told them. “So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.”

Imagine what this statement meant for the people gathered there! If they grew up in a Jewish home, they probably had heard about the stories of the pillar of light each year when they were setting up their temporary shelters. They had been told the importance of light during the festival ceremonies. They had been taught to expect a Messiah.

God had “tabernacled,” or dwelled, with the people in the wilderness for forty years, but they had lost their way long ago. Christ’s appearance was the fulfillment of God’s faithful promises. He continues to be the light in the same way that the pillar of fire brought light. Just like a candle brought into a dark room brings light, Jesus (as the light) has to be brought into a dark world to bring the light that brings life.