This state is to use in correlation with Initial Order feature.
This order text is in a format that is used in plugin logic, it does not contain elements IDs or indexes.
It is used to be saved somewhere in your database and use later in a repeating group to set reorder things as they were saved.
For example, admin sets an order on his admin dashboard, saves the order, and on users page this order is reflect on users repeating group.
More details, see in Initial Order - Feature page.