There is a higher purpose. I think He or She meant that the Israelite people were to celebrate and pass on their own traditions for the fixed times, so that the fixed times or holidays would remain special and sacred occasions to them. The Israelites were able to set their own special customs and traditions within the structure of the proclaimed holidays so that these holidays would be sacred to them and also so that these occasions would be passed on and continue to remain as sacred to the following generations. Emor ends by listing rules about killing and maiming. Shever tachat shever, ayin tachat ayin, shen tachat shen , fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Some Biblical scholars think it is meant as physical revenge.
You must literally have taken away from you what you have taken away from another. According to him, the rule is followed by the Israelites who remembered their desert roots. However most scholars disagree with Pfeiffer. Sa'adia Gaon, one of the greatest Babylonian rabbis, points out that there is no way to make sure the punishment is equal to the original injury. This is similar to the way these things work out in secular courts today.