שמואל ב, פרק כ״ד, פסוק י״ח

Following the plague and the sight of the destroying angel, a divine command arrives to halt the disaster. The prophet Gad approaches David with a message from God [מצודת דוד], instructing the king to construct an altar at the exact location where he witnessed the angel reaching out toward Jerusalem [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The prophetic instruction was actually delivered to Gad by the destroying angel itself. This carries a profound symbolic meaning: the very force that brought the destruction is now providing the remedy. By delivering this command, the angel sets the stage for a future miracle, preparing the site for heavenly fire to eventually descend upon the new altar [מלבי״ם].

Gad directs David to ascend to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. This upward movement is literal, as the site was situated on a mountain, at a higher elevation than the city of Jerusalem itself [רד״ק, אברבנאל]. Araunah was the former king of the Jebusites before the Israelites conquered the city. He was permitted to remain in Jerusalem because he had sincerely converted to the faith [רלב״ג, אברבנאל].

The selection of this specific threshing floor is far from random. It is located on Mount Moriah, the ancient site divinely chosen for the future Temple. It is also the exact historical location where Abraham once built the altar for the binding of his son Isaac [רלב״ג].