This major section of the book closes with a declaration that a covenant has now officially been made between the Lord and the current generation in Israel. Now the covenant has to be ratified and enforced.

Ancient treaties that great kings made with their subjects included a “document clause” that specified what each party would do with its own copy of the treaty. These copies were kept in prominent places, typically in the temples of the gods the kings worshiped. In the case of the covenant between God and Israel, the stone tablets are to stay inside the Lord’s covenant chest at Israel’s central place of worship. In addition, Moses specifies that a copy of the entire treaty must be written on giant stones and put on top of a mountain in the middle of Israel’s new territory.