In a highly provocative VT article from 2009, Leigh M. Trevaskis points to the emphasis on Sabbath in Leviticus 23 and 25.
All but one festival day is either on a date that is a multiple of seven, or on the day just after. The exception is the day of atonement, which falls on the tenth day of the seventh month. The Sabbath year occurs every seven years, and the Jubilee comes in the year after a Sabbath of Sabbaths.
The numerological-literary patterning reinforces the point: “It is possibly significant that the term ‘Sabbath’ occurs seven times in Lev 25 (w. 2 [2x], 4 [2x], 6, 8 [2x]) and as many as ten times in Lev 23 (w. 3 [2x], 11, 15 [2x], 16, 32 [3x], 38)” (298, fn. 11).
Overall, of the 24 times that shabbat occurs in Leviticus, all but three occur after chapter 23. 16 occur in chapters 23-25 alone, and another 5 come in the curses of Leviticus 26, mostly clustered at the end of the chapter (34, 35, 32).
It’s fair to say that Leviticus ends on a emphatically sabbatical note. And that gets one to thinking that perhaps the whole book is structured to lead to a Sabbatical conclusion. Perhaps the book follows the creation week. Perhaps this:
Day 1//Leviticus 1-7: Creation of light, and separation of light and darkness, linked to the instructions for offerings. The parallels are not obvious.
Day 2//Leviticus 8-10: Construction of firmament paralleled by the ordination rite for the priests who mediate between heaven and earth.
Day 3//Leviticus 11-15: Separation of land and sea linked with Israel’s separation between holy and profane, clean and unclean.
Day 4//Leviticus 16: Formation of lights in the heaven linked with the high priest’s entry into the “heavenly” Most Holy Place on the day of atonement. For Christian readers, the link is especially rich, since according to Hebrews Jesus’ ascent to the sky is His entry into the true sanctuary in heaven, with blood. As high priest, Jesus becomes the shiniest star of the firmament, the bright and morning star.
Day 5//Leviticus 17-20: Creation of swarming things linked with prohibitions against blood and fat, incest rules, and social commandments. Perhaps the link has to do with the common Exodus connection between swarming things and clothing on the one hand, and the “cover” of marriage on the other. The links look tenuous at this point.
Day 6//Leviticus 21-22: Adam is the first priest in God’s garden; Leviticus 21-22 contains regulations to do with priesthood. A nice fit.
Day 7//Leviticus 23-27: Sabbath, Sabbath, Sabbath.
All in all, looks like a decent scheme, worth further attention.
(Leigh M. Trevaskis, “The Purpose of Leviticus 24 within its Literary Context,” Vetus Testamentum 59 [2009] 295-312.)