‘ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.'
It must be recognised as almost certain that burnt offerings and peace offerings were slain on the altar built in the place where YHWH had recorded His name (Joshua 8:31 compare Exodus 20:24-25), in order to seal the covenant. The blood of the burnt offerings would be sprinkled on the altar, the peace offerings would provide the sacrificial meal (Exodus 24:5-6; Exodus 24:11).
The solemn covenant ceremony was now over and Joshua was satisfied that he had at least started the people on the right way for when he was gone. His duty as the appointed Servant to YHWH would soon end in death, and now he could die satisfied that the future seemed secure. As Moses had done before him he had established the sacred way in which they must walk. It was no simple covenant renewal. It was a statute and an ordinance, binding for ever (compare Exodus 15:25-26 and 1 Samuel 30:25, although the latter was not with YHWH).