Exodus 23:12
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exodus 23:12 belongs to the instruction, law, commandments and statutes given through Moses on the mount at Sinai. That law was spoken at Sinai as part of God's law, but was not first instituted there. Its inscription on stone shows that it is lasting.
The verse requires doing work through six days and resting on the seventh day. That seventh-day rest is not for the household head alone, but after six days of work the seventh day is a time of rest for the ox and the ass and other working animals, for servants including the son of the handmaid, and for the stranger, so that they may be refreshed and for their benefit. As one of the statutes, it shows that God's laws contained special directions guarding the interests of His people and expressing concern for the poor. As one of the laws written in a book, it guards against doing injustice and guides dealings with one another, requiring contention to cease and loving as brethren with softened and subdued hearts.
The verse is to be studied and presented before the people in detail, obeyed from the heart and carried out in practice in character and life. It lays a sacred obligation on all people and is needed now just as verily as by the children of Israel in the days of Moses. Keeping the commandments to which it belongs is the condition for being kings and priests unto God and for God communicating with His people so they do not stumble along not knowing what they are about.
Israel lifted voice and hands to heaven vowing to comply with the conditions and be obedient, but when temptation came while Moses was away they broke loyalty by making the calf. The verse was given by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who gave the directions on Mount Sinai and afterward spoke in human flesh.