1 Chronicles 21:17
And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
The prayer was uttered on the consecrated spot on Mount Moriah where the temple was afterward built. At that time pestilence was striking the people, and the destroying angel stood with a drawn sword over Jerusalem threatening destruction.
David confessed that he himself had commanded the people to be numbered and that he had sinned and done evil indeed. He called the people sheep and asked what they had done, pleading that the Lord his God's hand be on him and on his father's house rather than on the people that they should be plagued. His plea revealed his anguish and compassion for Israel as destruction threatened. Yet through David's error God was punishing the sins of Israel, because the people had also cherished the sins that prompted David's action.
To stay the avenging sword David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, God answered him by fire from heaven, and the sacrifice at Ornan's threshing floor turned aside the destroying angel's sword. That sacrifice that turned aside the sword is a symbol, a fitting symbol, of the Saviour's sacrifice and mediation for guilty people. That same ground had already been consecrated by Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son and by God's renewal with Abraham of the covenant of blessing, with the Messianic promise of deliverance through the sacrifice of the Son of the Most High. It thus became the place where worshipers of Jehovah met their God and renewed their vows of allegiance to Him.