Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Thy time was the time of love - literally, loves (Song of Solomon 2:10-13). Thou wast of marriageable age, but none was willing to marry thee, naked as thou wast. I then regarded thee with a look of grace, when the full time of thy deliverance was come (Genesis 15:13-14; Acts 7:6-7). It is not she that makes the advance to God, but God to her; she has nothing to entitle her to such notice, yet He regards her not with mere benevolence, but with love, such as one cherishes to the person of his wife (Song of Solomon 1:3-6; Jeremiah 31:3; Malachi 1:2).
I spread my skirt over thee - the mode of espousals (Ruth 3:9, Ruth says to Boaz, "Spread thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman"). I betrothed thee to me as the chosen object of my love (Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 10:15; Hosea 11:1). The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He means - "I ... enter into a covenant with thee," i:e., at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant" (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14, "I am married unto you;" Hosea 2:19-20; Malachi 2:14).
Thou becamest mine - (Exodus 19:5, "A peculiar treasure unto me above all people; Jeremiah 2:2).