Editing The Ten Countings of Israel (section)

==== Counting for Specific Needs ====
In addition to the general concept of counting, the Jewish people were counted out of Hashem's affection and for specific needs as follows:

The first counting was when they went down to Egypt, seventy souls, and the second counting was when they left, which expressed the great affection Hashem has for the Jewish people. The Midrash provides a parable: When a person sows wheat, he counts the number of seeds when planting them, and later when the crop grows, he counts them again. Similarly, when the Jewish people went down to Egypt, Hashem counted them, and when they came up from Egypt, He counted them again. This also fulfilled Hashem's promise to Avraham Avinu that his descendants would be numerous: "With seventy souls your forefathers went down to Egypt, and now Hashem your G-d has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven."

The third counting was at the beginning of building the Mishkan, when Hashem came to rest His Divine Presence among Israel after the sin of the Golden Calf and the plague that followed. The parable given is of "a beloved flock that was struck by plague, and when it ended, the owner said to the shepherd, 'Please count my sheep and know how many remain,' to show how beloved they are to him."

The fourth counting in Parshat Bamidbar was after the Mishkan was erected and Hashem rested His Divine Presence among Israel, which was an opportunity to express His affection for His children. Another aspect of this counting was for the military organization of the Jewish people as "those who go out to the army," and therefore those counted were of draft age, from twenty years and up.

The fifth counting in Parshat Pinchas occurred after the plague that struck the Jewish people after they sinned with the daughters of Midian, and here too a parable is given: "Like a shepherd whose flock was attacked by wolves who killed some of them, and he counts them to know how many remain." Another aspect was that when the Jewish people left Egypt and were handed over to Moshe Rabbeinu, they were handed over with a count, and here as he returns them before his passing, he returns them with a count.