Strangers and Pilgrims: Hebrews 11 and the Feast of Booths
Dishon Francis | Yasharun the Scribe
Every Sukkot, households leave their solid walls and sit under a roof of branches. Long before Israel ever built a booth in the wilderness, the fathers of the faith lived their whole lives in tents. The writer of Hebrews noticed this, and turned it into one of the most tender lessons in Scripture: the people of faith are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
This study walks through Hebrews 11, the Hebrew and Greek words behind "stranger," "sojourner," and "pilgrim," and why the Feast of Booths is a yearly reminder of who we are. Scripture is quoted from the King James Version with the Name and titles restored as Yahuah and Elohim.
Dwelling in Tabernacles
Hebrews 11 is often called the chapter of faith. When it reaches Abraham, it stops on a detail many readers pass over:
"By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:" (Hebrews 11:9)
Abraham was standing in the very land Yahuah had promised him, and he still lived there like a foreigner, in tents. The Greek word translated "tabernacles" is skene, a tent or cloth hut. Genesis shows the same picture again and again. Abraham "pitched his tent" and "builded an altar unto Yahuah" (Genesis 12:8). Jacob is described as "a plain man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27).
Why live in tents in your own promised land? Hebrews gives the answer in the very next verse:
"For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim." (Hebrews 11:10)
A tent is what you live in when you know you are not home yet.
What "Strangers and Pilgrims" Means
A few verses later the writer sums up Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob together:
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Hebrews 11:13)
The Greek word for "pilgrims" here is parepidemos, someone living for a time in a place that is not their own country. It is the same word Peter uses when he writes to scattered believers: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11).
The writer of Hebrews did not invent this language. He found it in the mouths of the fathers. When Sarah died, Abraham said to the sons of Heth, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you" (Genesis 23:4). In Hebrew that phrase is ger v'toshav: a ger is a stranger living among a people not his own, and a toshav is a sojourner or temporary resident. When Jacob stood before Pharaoh, he did not call his life a career or a kingdom. He said, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years" (Genesis 47:9).
A Confession the Whole Nation Shared
This was not only the story of three men. Yahuah wrote it into Israel's law. Speaking of the land itself, He said:
"The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me." (Leviticus 25:23)
Notice the last two words. Israel was not a stranger far from Yahuah. They were strangers with Him, living on His land as His guests.
David, a king in his own palace, prayed the same confession. "Hear my prayer, O Yahuah, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were" (Psalm 39:12). Near the end of his life he said, "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding" (1 Chronicles 29:15).
Seeking a Better Country
Hebrews is careful to say what the fathers were looking for. They were not wandering without direction.
"For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country." (Hebrews 11:14)
They could have gone back (Hebrews 11:15). Instead:
"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:16)
That may be the most comforting line in the chapter. Elohim is not ashamed of people who live in tents and admit they are not home yet. He calls Himself by their names: the Elohim of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.
The Feast That Keeps the Lesson Alive
This is where Sukkot comes in. Yahuah did not leave the pilgrim lesson to memory alone. He gave Israel a feast that puts every household back in a temporary shelter once a year:
"Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahuah your Elohim." (Leviticus 23:42 to 43)
The fathers lived in tents for a lifetime. Their children, settled in houses and cities, were told to step outside for seven days each year and remember. The booth says what Abraham's tent said: this world is not our final dwelling, and Yahuah has been our covering on the road.
The Body as a Tabernacle
The apostles carried the same picture one step further. They spoke of the human body itself as a tent.
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of Elohim, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1)
Here Paul uses skenos, a hut or temporary residence, a word built on the same root as skene. Peter, near the end of his life, wrote: "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle" (2 Peter 1:13 to 14).
So when we sit in a sukkah, we are sitting in a shelter that is temporary, inside bodies that are temporary, waiting with joy for a city that is not. That is not a sad thought. Sukkot is called a season of rejoicing (Leviticus 23:40), and the joy comes from knowing where the road ends.
Living as Pilgrims This Week
Some simple ways to carry Hebrews 11 into the feast, without adding anything Scripture does not ask:
- Read Hebrews 11:8 to 16 in your booth. If you have no booth, read it on the porch, the balcony, or by an open window. Our Sukkot at home guide has ideas for any space.
- Name your pilgrims. Tell the children about the grandparents, parents, and friends who walked faithfully before them, "as all my fathers were" (Psalm 39:12).
- Look forward. End each evening with Hebrews 11:16 and thank Him that He "hath prepared for them a city."
For Your Booth and Table
Our Sukkot and Eighth Day Scripture Cards are printable verse cards you can hang in a booth or stand on the table through the week. The Sukkot Instant Household Pack is a print tonight set for families keeping the feast at home. To plan the next year of appointed times ahead, the Biblical Feast Year Planner 2027 to 2028 starts at the head of the year. During the fall feast season, our free Fall Feasts guide is also available for any household getting started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "strangers and pilgrims" mean in Hebrews 11:13?
It describes people who live faithfully in this world while knowing it is not their final home. The Greek word for pilgrim, parepidemos, means someone residing for a time in a place that is not their own country.
How does Hebrews 11 connect to Sukkot?
Leviticus 23:42 to 43 commands Israel to dwell in booths seven days. The booth teaches the same lesson as the tents of the fathers: we are sojourners with Yahuah, and He is preparing a lasting city.
May your household, under whatever roof you gather this week, find the joy of a pilgrim who knows the way home.