Ki Tavo: Becoming God's People

The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised, p.1352
Coat them with plaster. And afterward inscribe them, according to Egyptian practice. This method preserved the inscription better than the incision in the stone, which often weathered badly.

Ibn Ezra
KEEP ALL THE COMMANDMENTS. Namely, that thou shalt set thee up great stones to contain the entire Torah. The Gaon, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon of blessed memory, said that the 613 commandments of the Torah were listed upon the stones.
[WITH PLASTER] Plaster was employed so that The monument of stones would last.
THAT THOU MAYEST. For God will aid you¹¹In conquering the land if you begin to observe His commandments. This first precept upon entering the Land of Israel, namely, the command to build a new altar, was to give thanks to God for their starting to inherit the land.

Abarbanel
The nations erect monuments to memorialize their conquests, victories and heroes. Israel is to inscribe on stone the words of Torah.

Sota 35b
The Torah was inscibed on the stones in seventy languages, but the nations chose to disregard it. Had they accepted it, they would have been accepted into the covenant and would not have lost the Land.

Sukkah 52b
Expose a human "stone" (that is, a person who has a heart of stone) to God's teaching and it will be shattered.

Which of the above reasons for the stones resonates with you most? Why are they neccessary?

Klein Dictionary, סכת 1
סכת to listen.
— Qal - סָכַת he listened.
— Hiph. - הִסְכִּית he kept silent, listened (a hapax legomenon in the Bible, occurring Deut. 27:9 in the imper.).
— Niph. - נִסְכַּת he kept silent, listened. [Arab. sakata (= he kept silent), Akka. sakātu (= to keep silent).] Derivatives: סֶכֶת, מַסְכֵּת, תַּסְכִּית.

Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 9:19
R. Juda again opened in honor of the Torah and expounded Be attentive, and hearken, O Israel, this day art thou become a people. (Deu. 27, 9). "Was the Torah then given unto Israel on that day? Behold! forty years had already elapsed. But this is stated for the purpose of inferring from it that the Torah shall always be as dear and beloved by its students, as if that very day it had been given on Mt. Sinai." R. Tanchum, son of R. Chiya, the man from the village of Achu, said: "You may infer it from the following. A man who is accustomed to read the Sh'm'a, reads it every day, morning and evening; and if he miss but one evening it seems to him as if he had never read the Sh'm'a." Be attentive, i.e., organize yourself into a company for the purpose of studying the Torah, because the Torah can be acquired only if studied in company;

Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 2:1
(Deut. 27:9:) “Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, ‘Pay attention and listen.’” What is the meaning of pay attention (hasket) and listen? Be silent (has) and then break down (katet). Moses said to Israel, “Form [yourselves into] individual classes (kitot), and incline your heart to hear the words of Torah.” Another interpretation: He said to them, “Pound (katetu) your hearts and souls to hear the words of Torah.” [(Deut. 26:16:) “With all your heart.”] R. Eliezer ben Jacob says, “The text comes to warn the priests when they perform a service not to have two hearts, one in the presence of the Holy One and one for something else.” (Ibid., cont.:) “And with all your soul (nafsheka),” even though [someone] takes your life (nafshekha). On one occasion [the Romans]¹Although the Tanhuma identifies the persecution with the Greek kingdom, the mention of R. Aqiva suggests the persecution under Hadrian. decreed a religious persecution against Israel, in which they were not to occupy themselves with the Torah.

Chizkuni
Three covenants did God conclude with Israel: one after the Exodus, one at Sinai, and one at this time, for the Siniaitic covenant had been abrogated by the sin of the golden calf. Thereforere Moses says "Today you have become the people of the Eternal your God" (Deut 27:9)

Kedushat Levi, Deuteronomy, Ki Tavo 6
Deuteronomy 27,9. “Moses and the priests, members ‎of the tribe of Levi, addressed all the Israelites, saying: ‘on ‎this day you have become a nation for the Lord your ‎G’d.’” Rashi, [keenly aware that this statement ‎after 40 years in the desert as G’d’s people, a people whom He had ‎redeemed from slavery in Egypt, must sound puzzling to the ‎reader, Ed.] understands the word ‎היום‎, “this day,” as a ‎reminder to the people that each and every day should be viewed ‎by each one of us as a new opportunity to become a servant of ‎the Lord, or to deepen that commitment. In fact, each breath we ‎draw presents us with new opportunities to do so. It is as if the ‎call from Sinai, several thousand years ago, still rings in our ears, ‎and we are invited to respond to it. This is why Moses continues ‎in verse 10 with the words: ‎ושמעת בקול ה' אלוקיך ועשית את מצותיו ‏ואת חקותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום‎, “you shall hearken to the voice of ‎the Lord your G’d, and perform His commandments and His ‎statutes which I command you this day. [No new ‎commandments had been issued on this day. Ed.] The ‎thrust of the verse is that the commandments are to be as if you ‎had heard them on this day for the first time. You should feel as if ‎you had heard them at Mount Sinai.‎

How do the monuments relate to the Israelites becoming God's people?
What symbols do we use to remind us of something important? How do we use them?