Some call it “the center of the whole bible.” I’d be inclined to agree.
Arced
This week’s featured arc at BibleArc is of this passage. From a note included:
In putting Christ forth as a propitiation, God acts for the sake of his glory, i.e., he actively demonstrates inviolable allegiance to the honor of his name in order that his inexorable love of his own glory may not be weakened, i.e., in order that he might remain and be righteous.
Explained
D. A. Carson (For the Love of God) gives us a few of what he considers to be “the more important conclusions to be drawn” from this passage. He says something similar to the note quoted above:
…God offers up Christ not only to justify ungodly sinners such as ourselves, who have faith in Jesus, but also to maintain his own justice, to be just, in the face of all the sins ever committed.