Parshas Mishpatim commences with a presentation of multitudinous civil laws in Halacha, addressing the topics of Eved Ivri and Amah Ha-Ivriyah (male and female Jewish servants), assault, murder, kidnap, unintentional bodily harm, damage by and to livestock and inanimate property, theft, home invasion, third-party protection of possessions, loans, and much more. These types of laws as referred to as "mitzvos bein adam la-chaveiro" - interpersonal mitzvos, between man and his fellow.

The parshah then changes gears somewhat, as it presents more mitzvos bein adam la-chaveiro, such as the prohibition of pressuring a poor person to repay a loan and requirements of returning collateral, yet it also proceeds to feature several "mitzvos bein adam La-Makom" - mitzvos between man and Hashem. Hence does the parshah now introduce mitzvos involving kashrus, Shemitah (Sabbatical Year), Shabbos, avodah zarah (idolatry), Aliyah La-Regel (festival pilrimage to the Beis Ha-Mikdash three times per year), korbonos (sacrifices), and more. In fact, there is a very interesting pattern to this, as the parshah initially intersperses a small sampling of these and other mitzvos ben adam la-Makom in the midst of its lengthy presentation of mitzvos bein adam la-lachaveiro, yet it then transitions to an exclusive focus on mitzvos bein adam la-Makom.

What is the significance of this pattern?

Although Mishpatim, the Torah's civil laws, are generally viewed as logical and practical regulations, Chazal (the Sages) teach us that Mishpatim have the same kedushah (sanctity) as the rest of the Torah - as Rashi (on Shemos 21:1) cites from the Mechilta: "Just as the earlier mitzvos (in last week's parshah) are from Sinai, so too are these (the Mishpatim) from Sinai". In other words, the same level of kedushah and authority infuses the Mishpatim, and we dare not view them as the mundane or "secular" component of Halacha. 

This concept is not merely an affirmation of the import of Mishpatim, but it conveys a very profound hashkafic (theological) insight as well. Whereas a person might assume that Hashem can be encountered primarily in the performance of mitzvos bein adam la-Makom, the very notion of mitzvos bein adam la-chaveiro proclaims that Hashem's realm of involvement is indeed everywhere, for His concern lies in the most earthly areas of our conduct. As the parshah states, "An almanah (widow) and yasom (orphan) you shall not afflict. If you afflict them, when they cry out to me, I will hearken unto their cry and My wrath will burn...  Should you take a garment of your friend as collateral, until the evening shall you return it to him. For it is his sole clothing... and it shall be, when he cries out to Me, I will listen, for I am compassionate." (Shemos 22:21-26)   

Hashem is omnipresent, such that the Shechinah pervades the universe and can be found literally everywhere, as Hashem's concern permeates every fiber of existence, throughout all of life and society. Whereas one might suppose that he can encounter Hashem solely in mitzvos bein adam la-Makom, the Mishpatim inform us that Hashem's Presence can be experienced expansively and without limit in everything that exists, from the realm of korbonos to the rules of property damage and monetary transactions.

This explains the parshah's progressive pattern of presentation, as it moves from a near-exclusive focus on mitzvos bein adam la-chaveiro to a blend of mitzvos bein adam la-chaveiro and mitzvos bein adam la-Makom, and then to a near-exclusive focus on mitzvos bein adam la-Makom, for we are taught that awareness and cognition of Hashem's Presence in even the most earthly recesses of existence brings us close to Him and leads to an encounter with the Shechinah in the elevated spheres identified with mitzvos bein adam la-Makom and in the Beis Ha-Mikdash itself.  

Parshas Mishpatim concludes with Moshe Rabbeinu's ascent to Sinai, where Moshe is provided with a special path in the midst of a holy cloud (v. Rashi on Shemos 24:18, from Gemara), to approach and intimately commune with the Shechinah. Realization of the true character of the Mishpatim leads to the ultimate manifestation of kedushah.