There is something wonderful we can learn about the sukkah; this longing for a better world is seen even more clearly when we read Leviticus 23:43, which says: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Interestingly, nowhere during the exodus are we told that the Israelites lived in succahs. We are told that they lived in tents, which is the Hebrew word ohel. So why use the word sukkah here? This brings us to consider the great spiritual dimension of these sukkahs which goes beyond the 40 years in the wilderness.
In history, this is what must have brought the ancient rabbis to understand the sukkah as the protection ministered through the Shekinah Glory, or the Spirit of God, a protection over the Israelites during their journey in the desert.
The word Sukkah itself, is from the word suk סׄךְ; it means to protect, to cover, to defend and the sukkah itself speaks of a pavilion of protection.
Later, the Zohar spoke of the Sukkah as the shelter of faith, a reminder of the love and the security we have in God.
For us today, the sukkah speaks even louder for as we also are journeying in the wilderness and on our way to the promised eternal abode, we are told that the Spirit of God now…dwells in us 1Cor.3:16. Like a succah, we are a pavilion with protection. We have that full assurance that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.
Once, one suggested that in order to prolong the message of Sukkot throughout the year, it is good to leave a part of our home unfinished, such as an unpainted corner or a broken chair. This is so that we would not get settled down here in this world, but remember that there is another world up there waiting for us. While we walk on the edge, God is our shield and our protection.