As I have been reading the Levitical laws, I have been constantly asking why God wants these animals to be sacrificed. Well, I think there are two aspects to this. Firstly, as God points out several times, "the life is in the blood". Whatever your meta-physical response to that statement, as far as God is concerned, blood represents life. If we understand a God who is just and holy, it would make sense that when we commit crimes, we have sinned against God and our blood (i.e. life) is required of us in punishment. The sacrifice of animals is a mechanism by which our blood is substituted for theirs, something that appeases God's justice. This might be why it is, "an aroma pleasing to God" i.e. justice is pleasing to God.
Now, God could, of course, have simply said, "tough luck" and demanded our lives for our sins but He instituted this OT system as a means to avoid our punishment. We know it was incomplete and hence the need for Jesus but it was a mechanism nonetheless and another reminder of God's grace and love in providing that, albeit temporary, means to be right with Him.
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