(13) Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the LORD have consecrated you. (14) You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy for you. He who profanes it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin. (15) Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. (16) The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: (17) it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed.
BECAUSE IT IS A SIGN–Finally, I will explain what the sign is
[Translation KJW]
HAVE CONSECRATED YOU—On your Shabbat I sanctified and did not do malakhah [acts of creating] on the Shabbat
[Translation KJW]
As a sign of our covenant with God/as a people, we are given a day where we are to refrain from creating, as God did, to enjoy what is already created
(Rabbi) Abraham Joshua Heschel "The Sabbath"
What did it mean for the Israelites to be set apart (consecrated)?
What role did Shabbat play as a sign?
In what ways does Shabbat connect us with God/community in modern Judaism?
How does/can Shabbat set us apart in our lives and communities today?
Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (1089–c.1167) Spain, was one of the most distinguished Jewish Biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ibn_Ezra