Glycolysis step 5: isomerization by triose phosphate isomerase
"Why" questions in biology tend not to make sense-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology_in_biology

But perhaps if I narrate the reaction it will connect with your intuition.
Let's look at the reactions in question:

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis#Summary_of_reactions

Step 4 in glycolysis cleaves fructose 1,6-bisphosphate into two molecules that are isomers. One isomer (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, GADP) is a reactant in step 6, and fuels the “payout phase” where glycolysis reactions begin to yeild ATP and NADH. So what happens to dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), the other product from step 4? How can we extract energy from this?

Reaction 5 is the interconversion of GADP and DHAP. So as GADP is consumed by reaction 6, reaction 5 will, by Le Chatlier’s principle, lead to net conversion of DHAP to GADP. The GADP produced by this isomerization then also feeds reaction 6. In this way, both of the products of reaction 4, GADP and DHAP, are channeled down the chain to fuel NADH and ATP production.