Using theme variables in template hubl code not working for padding

When adding HubL values to an object you should not use the brackets at all.

padding={
 'top': theme.site_layout.section_top_bottom,
 'bottom': theme.site_layout.section_top_bottom,
 'left': theme.site_layout.body_padding,
 'right': theme.site_layout.body_padding
}