People will go to great lengths to protect what’s important to them. It could be their family, their online privacy, a dream car, an endangered species, or a stamp collection. It really doesn’t matter what it is just that it’s important and worthy of securing with diligence, care, and thoughtfulness. People protect what’s important to them. 

And so does God. After sin came into the world God began a restoration project to rebuild what had been lost. He swore to never again flood the world (Gen 9), thus establishing a predictable foundation on top of which he could build. He then promised a particular location for a specific population, a group through whom he would bring global benediction (Gen 12–22). But, for that to happen, this population needed to be preserved against the dangers of deviation, corruption, capitulation, and eradication. This restoration project is important to God, and so he goes to great lengths to protect it.