Dear John & Doves:
If the tribulation is set to start on Friday, September 27, 2013, Simchat Torah; then 888 days prior is First Fruits 2011 (also Easter) on April 24, 2011.
The number 8 represents new birth - birth in the flesh, birth in the spirit, birth via the resurrection & rapture - thus 888.
But be ready at all times because I see through a glass darkly.
Pineman