This chapter, Genesis 15, might be one of the most important chapters in the Bible. First you have a very important verse to show that Abram’s righteousness was not credited to him because of his works. It was because he believed and this will come back into play with the transition from law in the New Testament.
Second you have the visible confirmation that God is going to give the land to Abram’s descendants. This is a covenant that is still active today, though Israel didn’t do much to deserve it for a while. Notice though that God makes this covenant without any action on Abram’s part. He was put to sleep and could do nothing.
Third is that you have the prophesy of probably the biggest event in the history of the Jewish nation. That of course is the exodus from Egypt back to the promised land. God promises that they will be removed from the land, but they will return and be better off.
Most interesting verse of this chapter is number 11. It is always strange what authors decided to include when writing the Bible. This verse isn’t that bizarre, in fact it is obvious that it would happen, but you have to wonder why of all the details is this the one chosen for inclusion in Scripture. And also ask yourself what your neighbors would think if we still had rituals like this today? Could you even catch those animals, much less bring yourself to cut them in half?