Based on chapter 8, we can estimate that the journey started in spring and ended in midsummer. Imagine what it was like to move a caravan of fifty thousand people with the means available at that time. The chapter highlights the theme of the Temple. Restoring worship reestablishes Moses’ laws and David’s institutions. This indicates that the new era builds upon the past. The Feast of Tabernacles (4) marked the end of the grape harvest and all field work. Usually, it was an agricultural festival celebrating the journey through the desert after leaving Egypt. It was fitting to celebrate this joyful and popular festival first in the homeland, as the returnees had also lived in tents, echoing the experience of those who left Egypt.