And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
The verse describes the close of Peter's trance while he was praying at Joppa, when after the heavenly voice about what God has cleansed spoke three times, the great sheet let down by its four corners holding four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls with its contents was taken back up into heaven. The threefold repetition fixed the lesson firmly in Peter's mind so that Jewish prejudice would not keep him from receiving Gentile believers. The lesson was that the ceremonial distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision had ended and the barrier between Jews and Gentiles was being removed, so Gentiles must no longer be called common or unclean because God is no respecter of persons.
The vision marked God's opening of the Christian church to the Gentiles, so that Gentile believers who accept the gospel are fully equal to Jewish disciples without circumcision, and it prepared Peter to carry the gospel to Cornelius and other Gentiles as proof that God was granting them repentance and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter rehearsed the vision from the beginning to the offended brethren in Judea to defend entering the house of uncircumcised men, eating with them, and preaching to them at Caesarea by divine command, having taken six brethren as witnesses, and they accepted it as direct fulfillment of God's plan to destroy old prejudice and exclusiveness by the gospel of Christ. This illustrated God's power through heavenly messengers and Peter's encounter with Cornelius to break down prejudice, open the way for the gospel among the Gentiles, and teach those who love and fear Him even when they do not yet know all the truth.
The verse describes the close of Peter's trance while he was praying at Joppa, when after the heavenly voice about what God has cleansed spoke three times, the great sheet let down by its four corners holding four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls with its contents was taken back up into heaven. The threefold repetition fixed the lesson firmly in Peter's mind so that Jewish prejudice would not keep him from receiving Gentile believers. The lesson was that the ceremonial distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision had ended and the barrier between Jews and Gentiles was being removed, so Gentiles must no longer be called common or unclean because God is no respecter of persons.
The vision marked God's opening of the Christian church to the Gentiles, so that Gentile believers who accept the gospel are fully equal to Jewish disciples without circumcision, and it prepared Peter to carry the gospel to Cornelius and other Gentiles as proof that God was granting them repentance and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter rehearsed the vision from the beginning to the offended brethren in Judea to defend entering the house of uncircumcised men, eating with them, and preaching to them at Caesarea by divine command, having taken six brethren as witnesses, and they accepted it as direct fulfillment of God's plan to destroy old prejudice and exclusiveness by the gospel of Christ. This illustrated God's power through heavenly messengers and Peter's encounter with Cornelius to break down prejudice, open the way for the gospel among the Gentiles, and teach those who love and fear Him even when they do not yet know all the truth.