"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all."
Mosiah 14:5-6
What Christ did for us I think is beyond our comprehension in some ways. He stands between us and Justice, opening up the time and space needed for mercy and hope, which he offers us as we accept his sacrifice on our behalf, honor it, and follow his instructions to get back to God.
It's easier, perhaps, to think of it as an impersonal atonement... an infinite atonement that is generic and so it doesn't really matter what we do or when we repent, but I think that however infinite the atonement is, this verse shows us in some important ways how it is also personal. Christ is like an older brother stepping in to take the punishment for something his younger siblings did. The small children don't understand yet the damage they did, or the price that the brother paid for them, but as they grow and learn and understand, they will appreciate the opportunities that they had that would have been gone if they had had to pay the price themselves.
In this case we're the children, and Christ has given us the space to have a childhood and to grow up and learn not to make huge mistakes like that again. Let's learn and become, and be grateful to Christ for giving us this time by sheltering us and suffering in our stead.
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