In The Meaning of the Pentateuch, Sailhamer argues that the major poems of the Pentateuch serve as breaks in the narrative, breaks in which the author gathers together major themes. These themes highlight the future-oriented, messianic hope of the Hebrew Bible:

• Meta-perspective — באחרית הימים (“in the last days”), in each poem except Exodus 15
• Humanity’s rebellion / twisted desires
• Promises to Abraham
• Blessing and flourishing
• Coming king / kingdom / lion-imagery
• Defeat of enemies
• Yahweh himself as Israel’s hope
  

In what follows, I’ve tried to (1) gather together the major themes of each poem and (2) provide a thesis that pulls together the future-oriented hope to which the poems point.

Thesis

The promises God made to Abraham, to renew creation through his descendants, will be fulfilled through the line of Judah. From Judah will come an eternal kingdom with a king who will overcome human rebellion and lead Israel to blessing, flourishing, and rest from their surrounding enemies. In this way, Israel will lead all nations to the blessing and flourishing for which it was created.

Genesis 49

• Joseph and Judah are the focus of blessing, a theme that stretches from creation (Gen 1–2) to the promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1–3) to Jacob/Israel’s family, Joseph and surprisingly Judah.
  
• What we witnessed in the Joseph story will actually happen in the future with a descendant of Judah: “Your brothers will praise you” (Gen 49:8).
  
• All the promises of Genesis are funneled into and through Judah from whom will come an eternal king and kingdom (Gen 49:10). This promise carries forward the hope of a future “seed” of Eve who will crush the snake (Gen 3:15), a “seed” of Abraham (Gen 12:7; 13:15–16; 15:3–18; 16:10; 17:7–19; 21:12–17; 22:17–18; 24:7) who will be a king (Gen 17:7, 17), defeat the enemies of God’s people (Gen 22:17; 49:8) and lead to blessing/flourishing for all nations (Gen 22:18).
  
• The poem has a meta-perspective signaled by “in the last days” (Gen 49:1)
  

Exodus 15

• Yahweh himself is the hope of God’s people. This is the singular message throughout the poem.
  
• Yahweh is a “man of war” (Exod 15:3), the source of their military might, and the one who will defeat Israel’s enemies, those who oppose God’s plan to lead all creation into greater flourishing.
  
• Yahweh is Israel’s true king and will reign forever (Exod 15:18).
  

Numbers 23–24

• Yahweh as the source of blessing/curse (Num 23:7–8, 18–20)
  
• Fulfillment of the promise to Abraham (Num 23:9–10)
  
• Yahweh’s presence & “the shout of a king” (Num 23:21)
  
• Yahweh’s power to save (Num 23:22–23)
  
• Israel as a conquering lion, recalling the prophetic poem about a descendant from Judah (Num 23:24; Gen 49:9–10)
  
• A singular king from Jacob will be exalted and crush the enemy (Num 24:7, 17).
  
• God is like a lion that devours his enemies and brings victory (Num 24:8–9).
  
• Israel will flourish like Eden and have rest from their enemies (Num 24:6, 15–23).
  
• The poem has a meta-perspective signaled by “in the last days” (Num 24:14)
  

Deuteronomy 32–33

• Humanity is stuck in rebellion, and twisted desires are the root of the problem. Their desire is to define good on their own terms instead of trusting God as their Father.
  
• At Sinai, Moses mediated Yahweh’s reign by giving the people God’s instructions. Levi will carry this forward. Yahweh’s reign goes hand-in-hand with teaching and obeying his instructions. This partnership reflects God’s intention for humanity when he created them in the garden.
  
• There is an emphasis throughout that all the children of Israel will be blessed. Genesis 49 highlighted Joseph and Judah, but this poem extends the Eden-like blessing to all Israel.
  
• The author is still waiting for a prophet like Moses to come. Deuteronomy 34:10 implies that the author has seen many prophets come and go and yet none has been like Moses.
  
• The poem has a meta-perspective signaled by “in the last days” (Deut 31:39).