Referring, probably, to the Ten Commandments.

The children of Israel, being fallen in nature, surely would not measure up to keeping the commandments, statutes, and ordinances of their God; thus, they would come under all the curses listed in vv. 15-26. However, right beside the stones containing the inscriptions of the commandments of God was the altar, signifying the cross of Christ, where God’s people could take Christ, in type, as their burnt offering to God for His satisfaction and as their peace offering to God for their enjoyment with God in the divine fellowship (vv. 6-7). Through Christ God’s people, who were cursed under God’s commandments, statutes, and ordinances, have been redeemed “out of the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13). Because we as God’s people have come to the cross, we are now under the cross (implying grace) and are no longer under the law (Rom. 6:14). As those who are under the cross, we can satisfy God and can also find satisfaction for ourselves through Christ, our Redeemer and our Substitute. Through Christ, who is our peace, we have peace with God (Eph. 2:14a; Rom. 5:1). The law is over, and the cross stands forever. This is the reason that the altar was prepared before the curses were declared.

The scene at the entry of the good land portrayed in vv. 1-8 includes the stone monuments, the altar, and the offerings. The law written on the monuments was a portrait of God Himself (see note Exo. 20:1¹); hence, the monuments signify that Christ as the embodiment of God was standing before the people to make requirements of them according to what He is. The offerings burned on the altar as sacrifices for God’s satisfaction also signify Christ as the One who meets and satisfies all God’s requirements. Thus, the requiring God Himself came in incarnation to be our Redeemer and our Substitute as the fulfilling One. This wonderful scene shows that it is through the requiring God, the cross of Christ, and Christ Himself as the offerings, not by our endeavoring in ourselves, that we enter into Christ, our good land, and receive all the blessings that God would give us in Christ. These blessings are the processed Triune God Himself embodied in Christ (see note Deut. 8:7¹).

See note Exo. 20:25¹.

An adjective in Hebrew meaning firm, steadfast.