What does Genesis 2:3 mean?

The previous verse described God accomplishing His work of creation in six days. After this, on the seventh day, God rested from work. Here, in verse 3, God does two things: He blesses the seventh day, and He makes it holy.

What does it mean to bless a day? In chapter 1, God's blessing was tied to the fertility of His creation, to reproduction and populating the earth. This blessing of the seventh day is less clear. In the future, under the Law, God would bless Israel for observing the seventh day rest. He would demonstrate His ability to provide for His people even when they sat out a day of work each week.

God also makes the seventh day holy or "set apart" from the other six days. Even before sin entered into the world, God intended from the very beginning for the seventh day to be a special day dedicated to rest. It's the pattern He set for the world beginning in this verse.