Exodus 12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.

Exodus 12:24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.

Exodus 12:43 And Yahuah (the LORD) said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

Exodus 13:10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Numbers 9:14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the Passover unto Yahuah (the LORD); according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

Numbers 15:15 One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourns with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before Yahuah (the LORD).

So the purpose of the Tabernacle in the wilderness was that Yahuah (the LORD) could dwell in there and Israel could worship Yahuah (the LORD) there which entailed the keeping of the Shabbats both weekly and annually.

Numbers 9:1-5, 1 Now Yahuah (the LORD) spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai; according to all that Yahuah (the LORD) commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Many will use the above verses as an argument to say that if Israel could do the Passover in the wilderness then we should be able to do them while we are in Exile.

In order for me to answer this I want to look at what their situation was in the wilderness and compare that to our situation today.

1 They had a Tabernacle where Yahuah (the LORD) dwelt, this is where He received His worship from Israel in other words this is where 

2) He placed His Name on a temporary basis until Israel came into the land and had a built Temple.

3) We don’t have a Tabernacle or a Temple where Yahuah (the LORD) dwells either in exile or in the Land of Israel to this day.

It was a set apart place where Yahuah (the LORD) chose to meet His people, the Israelites (All 12 Tribes), during the 40 years they wandered in the wilderness under Moses.

It was the place where the leaders and people came together to worship and offer the required sacrifices.

The tabernacle was first erected in the wilderness exactly one year after the Passover when the Israelites were freed from their Egyptian slavery (circa 1450 B.C.).

It was a mobile tent with portable furniture that the people travelled with and set up wherever they pitched camp. The tabernacle would be in the centre of the camp, and the 12 tribes of Israel would set up their tents around it according to their tribes.

The instruction on how to build the tabernacle was first given to Moses on the Mountain of Yahuah (the LORD) Mount Sinai, who then gave the orders to the Israelites.

“…make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

Here we see Yahuah (the LORD) says that He will dwell among Israel, however He needed a place that he could dwell.

The interesting thing about the word “Sanctuary” is that in Hebrew the word used by Yahuah (the LORD) for sanctuary is “Myqdash” and has the following meanings:

So we have the word Myqdash which can also be referred to as the Temple which many call the Bayt Ha Myqdash.

In other words this is the place where Yahuah (the LORD) dwells amongst Israel. This is where He places His Name.

In the case of the tabernacle in the wilderness, this was a temporary dwelling place for Yahuah (the LORD) until the Temple was built by King Solomon in Israel.

“Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their Aluhym (God). They will know that I am Yahuah (the LORD) their Aluhym (God), who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them.” (Exodus 29:45-46)

And so Yahuah (the LORD) dwelled among His people in the tabernacle in the wilderness. He appeared as a pillar of cloud over the tabernacle by day and a pillar of fire by night in the sight of all Israel. The people would not set out on their journey unless the cloud lifted. It was an unmistakably powerful visual statement indicating Yahuah’s (the LORD's) presence among them.

Yahuah (the LORD) knew that the Israelites needed visual evidence of His presence. When Moses went up to Mount Sinai for 40 days and the people did not see or hear from him, they grew impatient and gathered their gold to form a golden calf that they worshipped in place of Yahuah (the LORD).

After ten generations of living in Egypt, it was not surprising that the Israelites mimicked the Egyptians in fashioning a visual idol of their own. This act of disobedience demonstrated their need to follow and worship an aluhym (gods) who was visually tangible.

Yahuah’s (the LORD's) provision of a tabernacle itself splendour to behold not only allowed the people to sense His presence, but also to see their leader go in to meet with Yahuah (the LORD) in a place that they could see and not disappear up a mountain.

The tabernacle of Moses is a lesson of unquestionable authority

The tabernacle was more than just a dwelling place. All the components of the tabernacle were part of an intricate visual aid to illustrate Yahuah's (the LORD's) relationship with His people. One aspect of this relationship was Yahuah’s (the LORD's) requirement for complete obedience. Yahuah (the LORD) told Moses to create the tabernacle exactly the way He commanded. It was not to stray from Yahuah’s (the LORD's) blueprint.

“Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” (Exodus 25:9)

To this end, Yahuah (the LORD) gave very specific instructions about the size of each component and the materials the Israelites were to use, and just like His Muadym (Appointed times) these were to be done exactly how He instructed.

These seemingly cumbersome rules were not intended to burden the people, but to show Yahuah’s (the LORD's) unquestionable authority and set apartness, and emphasize that people could only come to Yahuah (the LORD) on Yahuah’s (the LORD's) terms, not on their own.

They had to obey reverently not only in the construction of the tabernacle, but also in the way they worshipped Yahuah (the LORD). Any irreverence or ritual uncleanness could result from an individual being cut off from His people or in death.

For example, the anointing oil for the tabernacle and the incense for the altar of incense (made from Yahuah’s/the LORD's own prescribed formulas of spices) were both declared set apart by Yahuah (the LORD) and could only be used for the purpose of the tabernacle; anyone else using the same formula for their own consumption would be cut off from Israel (Exodus 30:34-38).

The special garments for the priests were set apart; if they did not wear the right clothing in serving Yahuah (the LORD), they would die (Exodus 28:2, 43).

The wilderness tabernacle is a projection of Yahuah’s (the LORD's) redemptive plan

In the New Testament, John writes: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) This word “dwelling” is the same word for “tabernacle” in the First Covenant.

In other words, Yahuah (the LORD) came in living flesh to dwell or to tabernacle among His people. As He walked upon the earth and lived among the Yahudym (Those from the tribe of Judah), Yahusha Ha Mashyach (Jesus Christ) Himself fulfilled the picture of the First Covenant tabernacle. In that and many other ways, as we will see, the tabernacle really was a prophetic projection of Yahusha’s redemptive plan for His people.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of Yahuah (the LORD) is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and Yahuah (the LORD) himself will be with them and be their Aluhym (God).’ ” (Revelation 21:3)

Colossians 2:16 & 17, 16 Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day. 17 things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

What is a Shadow?

A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette or reverse projection of the object blocking the light.

The sun causes many objects to have shadows and at certain times of the day, when the sun is at certain heights, the lengths of shadows change.

So we can see that not only was the tabernacle a shadow of that which was to come the Greater Tabernacle Yahusha Ha Mashyach it also served as a place where Yahuah (the LORD) dwelt in.

Yahuah (the LORD) dwelt in this Tabernacle (The body of Yahusha) which was the whole wheat unleavened bread 1 Million% Yahuah (God) and 0% human.

Colossians 1:15-19, 15 He is the image of the invisible Aluhym (God), the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

Colossians 2:9 For in Him (Yahusha) dwells all the Fullness of Yahuah (God) in bodily form.

It’s in my opinion any Temple at the time of Yahusha (Jesus) was not set apart because He was the living walking tabernacle and temple of Yahuah (God) in the flesh.

This gives us more understanding with passages of scripture such as Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for Yahuah (the LORD) Al-Shaddai (Almighty God) and the Lamb are the temple of it.

So even if the Jews were to erect a temple in Jerusalem, it really means nothing because the real temple/tabernacle is not here yet.

In Conclusion to Part 1

When we examine the scriptures we can safely arrive at the following conclusions.

We cannot keep the Feasts of Yahuah (the LORD) whilst we are in exile.

Yahuah (the LORD) only dwells amongst Israel when the twelve tribes are together, this clearly has not happened yet.

The Israelites could have kept the feasts of Yahuah (the LORD) in the wilderness because there was a tabernacle where Yahuah (the LORD) dwelt in and in retrospect where His Name was for that temporary time.

Yahusha is Yahuah (God) in the flesh and He said in John 14:15 IF ye love me keep my commandments.

We only love Yahusha (Jesus) when we keep Yahuah’s (God's) commandments exactly how He instructed, any other way is disobedient’ s and could cause us to be cut off from Israel.

I would like to now give you a very brief understanding of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the priestly divisions of that time:

"Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of Yahuah (the LORD), each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day." (Exodus 32:29). 

The Levites were natural allies of Moses because Moses himself was of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1-2, 10).

Levi had 3 sons: Garshan, Kahath, and Marari. From those branches of the family, the Levites were organized into 3 levels of service:

• The first level was composed of Aaron and his offspring, who were descended from Levi’s son Kahath. They formed the priesthood.
  
  
• The second level was made up of all of the other descendants of Kahath who were not descendants of Aaron.

They were in charge of the most sacred parts of the Tabernacle (Numbers 3:27-32, 4:4-15, 7:9).

• The third level consisted of all of the descendants of Garshan and Marari, who were given lesser duties (Numbers 3:21-26, 33-37).

The Levites served at the Tabernacle from age 30 to 50 (Numbers 4:3, 23, 30). They were not counted for military service in the armies of Israel, but were set apart for service to Yahuah (the LORD) (Numbers 1:45-50, 2:33, 26:62).

The Levites had custody of The Tabernacle (as illustrated above, Numbers 1:51, 18:22- 24). The Garshanites camped on the west of the Tabernacle (Numbers 3:23), the Kahathites on the south (Numbers 3:29), the Mararites on the north (Numbers 3:35), and the priests on the east (Numbers 3:38).