How will the Lord “restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings”?
The following passage (Jeremiah 30:18–22) gives a fuller picture of the restoration that the Lord will bring about for his people. The Lord will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings.
This reminds the reader of Numbers 24:5, where the prophet Balaam says, How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.
It is a description of the covenant rest and peace that the Lord had always promised to the nation of Israel. Now that the Lord’s judgment of his people has runs its course, he will restore those promises of rest.1 The city of Jerusalem and the king’s palace will be rebuilt. These are both important markers of the peace and stability in the land that the covenant spoke of. The reader is also reminded here that the restoration is not just for Judah, but for the united people of Israel.
18 “Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be.