The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael asks a deceptively simple question: why were the Ten Commandments not placed at the very beginning of the Torah? If they are the foundation of the covenant, why not open with them?
The answer comes through a parable. A man enters a province and announces to its inhabitants: "I will rule over you." The people respond with a reasonable objection: "What have you done for us that you should rule over us?" The man has no answer. He is a stranger making demands.
So the man changes his approach. He builds the city wall for them. He brings them water. He wages war on their behalf, protecting them from enemies. Only after all of this does he say again: "I will rule over you." This time, the people respond eagerly: "Yes! Yes!"
This is exactly what God did with Israel. He did not begin by issuing commandments to a people who had no reason to listen. First, He brought them out of Egypt. He split the sea. He fed them manna. He defeated their enemies. He demonstrated through action that He was invested in their survival and flourishing.
Only then, at Sinai, did God declare (Exodus 20:2): "I am the Lord your God." The commandments come after the rescue, not before. Authority is earned through care, not claimed through force. The Torah opens with creation and the patriarchs and the Exodus precisely so that by the time the commandments arrive, Israel already knows who is speaking and why they should listen.