Abraham was vitally important for Israel, he was the father of the nation. So if he gave Melchizedek a tenth, then Melchizedek must have been very important.
Under the Law the people had to give a tenth to the Levites, even though the Levitical priests descended from Abraham. Melchizedek, on the other hand, did not descend from Abraham. Indeed, highly unusually in the Bible, has no genealogy. As well as receiving a tenth from Abraham, he also blessed Abraham. Now the Levites did not bless the people, but Melchizedek blessed Abraham in his own right. So Melchizedek must have been greater than Abraham.
In fact as Abraham was representative of the whole Jewish nation, he was representative of the Levites. So the Levites blessed Melchizedek. The point that the writer is making here is that the Levitical priesthood was not the be all and end all. There was a greater priesthood, represented by Melchizedek.
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