שאו את ראש…(במדבר א:ב)

Counting the Yidden allowed the Shechina — the Divine Presence — to rest upon them. Each person understood how important his actions are, as Chazal say: “A person should always think that the world is balanced equally between זכאי — deserving — and חייב — guilty — and he himself is also exactly in the middle. One mitzvah can tip the scales for himself and the whole world to the side of good, and one aveirah, G-d forbid, can do the opposite.”

Thinking this way encourages a person to do teshuvah, and through that, השראת השכינה — the Divine Presence — rests among Klal Yisroel.