Clean and Unclean

I've been reading through the laws of Leviticus and have been thinking about God's reasons for the laws He has for the Hebrews. Why does He say that some animals are clean and some animals that are unclean. It can't be just because He wants the Jews to eat healthy. I believe that I have found a clue as to what God's reasons could possibly be and I'd love to hear what you think.

Leviticus 20:25-26 gives us this clue: "You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine." (NASB). Just as God chose animals to be clean, He chose the Israelites to be His Chosen People. The rest of the people of the world weren't a part of this group, just like the rest of the animals were considered unclean for eating.

As we know now a person from any ethnic background, not just a Jewish background, can be a child of God as long as "you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead." (Romans 10:9, NIV). Is this shown in any references to clean and unclean animals? I believe it is. In Acts 10: 9-16 (it's too long to type, so I'll let you look it up) Peter is praying and falls into a trance. In the trance a giant sheet filled with many different types of animals came down from the sky. God tells Him to kill and eat, but Peter refuses because the animals, by Levitical law, are considered unclean. Then the Voice of his dream says "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." (Acts 10:15, NASB). I believe that this represents the fact that Gentiles can become part of God's Chosen People because "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God." (I. Peter 3:18a, NIV). Just like no animal is considered unclean anymore, any person from any nationality can be cleansed by Christ's precious blood.