2 Samuel 24:25

And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings, the latter for the purpose of reestablishing the proper relation between him and the covenant God. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. At the same time the command to build an altar to the Lord included a hint that this place had been chosen by the Lord for the Temple to His name. We Christians of the New Testament have a far better atoning sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanses us from all sins and keeps the plague of death and hell from us.