Acts 12:11, commentary and pictures

Peter came to himself alone in the street after the angel left, and knew for certain that the Lord had sent His angel to free him from Herod Agrippa's prison and from the Jews' expectation that he would die the next morning. His deliverance was real and not a dream or vision, for he had fallen asleep bound and partly undressed between soldiers, yet stood free and clothed while guards remained at their posts and doors stayed shut. The rescue came when no human help was possible, in answer to the prayers of believers, showing that holy angels minister to God's people and that heaven knows even their ordinary needs. The same angel who freed Peter later struck down Herod for persecuting Christ's followers and accepting worship, and Herod refused to admit that divine power had thwarted him. The contrast between Peter's rescue and Herod's judgment became widely known and led many to believe, teaching that God's servants must obey God rather than men and take comfort that He has work for them to do.

Historical Setting and Circumstances

The Herod who held Peter was Herod Agrippa, also called Agrippa I, who held the government of Judea subject to Claudius the Roman emperor and also held the position of tetrarch of Galilee. He was professedly a proselyte to the Jewish faith and apparently very zealous in carrying out the ceremonies of the Jewish law. He desired to obtain the favor of the Jews in order to make secure his offices and honors.

To gain that favor he persecuted the church of Christ, spoiling the houses and goods of believers and imprisoning leading members of the church. He cast James the brother of John into prison and killed him with the sword by beheading, and seeing that the Jews were well pleased he imprisoned Peter also. Peter had been jailed for preaching Jesus contrary to human law.

He had fallen asleep bound between two soldiers with sandals and outer garments removed and irons swelling his wrists, under strong armed guard to prevent escape. Herod had imprisoned him intending to put him to death as he had James, planning to bring him out in the morning before the gathered people for execution. The purpose was both to display his own power and to intimidate Peter's sympathizers, and the people of the Jews fully expected that Peter would be put to death the next day.

Peter's Awakening to Reality

When he came to himself the angel had left him alone in the street and the heavenly light had faded into darkness. Standing in the cool night air in a familiar part of the city he had expected to pass for the last time on his way to execution the next morning, he gradually realized his freedom was real. Coming to himself means becoming fully awake and aware of his freedom.

Checking himself, he found that though he had fallen asleep bound between two soldiers with sandals and outer garments removed and irons swelling his wrists, he was now fully dressed and girded and free of manacles. He then knew of a surety that the Lord had sent His angel and had delivered him out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jews for his death in prison. His escape was a real act of divine deliverance from prison and death, not a dream or vision. The experience became clear to him only after the angel had left him.

The angel had awakened him by touch amid amazing light, opened the prison doors by his presence, and loosed his bands. He told him to gird himself and put on his sandals, while Peter was so astonished he thought he saw a vision and forgot his garments. The angel then led him silently through guarded gates and streets past guards and through locked doors and the iron gate, and disappeared once the rescue was complete. The escape thwarted human security without human means: the guards remained at their posts and the prison doors and bolts were still secured, yet Peter was brought out free.

Angelic Ministry and Answered Prayer

The Lord sent His angel on a mission of mercy to deliver Peter when he was doomed to death in Herod's dungeon. It is one example of how holy angels have in all ages ministered to God's people. That leading of Peter out of prison and to safety demonstrates the close connection between heaven and earth.

God employs angels to communicate with human beings and to guide and powerfully help His chosen messengers on earth. His servants are thus taught of God through instruction often given by immortal messengers. Angels of God commissioned from heaven watch over and guard the children of men, coming in and going out of houses. The angel came right into the prison house and took Peter as prey out of the hands of the enemy to deliver one who suffered in prison for the truth's sake. This proves God is constantly working in this way in behalf of His people.

The deliverance came when human means offered no possibility of rescue, while believers prayed and angels guarded him. Their fasting and prayers for Peter were heard and answered. They were offered even while the believers expected he would suffer death and be executed. His escape answered those prayers and thwarted Herod's plan, for Peter was brought out free even though the guards remained at their posts and the prison doors and bolts were still secured. Those who had prayed were astonished when they heard his voice at the gate after he was brought out free.

The rescue shows that heaven knows the circumstances and even the ordinary needs of God's servants, giving comfort to those who face trials. God always has care for the true and faithful, sending messengers from heaven to open gates and set them free. His protecting presence can lead His servants safely past every guard, through locked doors and the iron gate. Peter was delivered because God had work for him to do. In this Christ fulfilled His promise to manifest Himself to those who love Him by delivering Peter by the hand of an angel, and He will manifest Himself in the same way to all who remain faithful.

Herod's Judgment and Gospel Triumph

The same angel sent by God to free Peter from his persecutor's power later brought judgment on Herod. Peter's persecutor was struck down by divine judgment for his course. The Herod who had killed James and sought Peter's life was Agrippa I, who later died under God's judgment. Peter's deliverance from prison and death stands in contrast with Herod's being struck down.

Although the escape thwarted the king's purpose, Herod knew that no human power had rescued Peter. Yet he refused to acknowledge God's power. He refused to admit that divine power had thwarted his plans and purpose.

Herod later remembered that God had delivered Peter from death and from his power while Herod himself faced judgment. That judgment came for persecuting Christ's followers and accepting worship from the people. In that hour he recognized that the God who had saved Peter was mightier than he was. He recognized that he himself was under the authority of a mightier Ruler.

The contrast between Peter's miraculous rescue from prison and death and Herod's judgment made a powerful impression. News of these events reached many lands and became widely known. It led many people to believe in Christ.

Lessons and Application for Believers

Peter's recognition that his escape was real and not a dream brings comfort to those in trial, because it proves that heaven knows the circumstances and even the ordinary needs of God's servants. That same watchcare is seen in angels commissioned from heaven to guard men, coming in and going out of houses, who came right into the prison house and took Peter as prey out of the hands of the enemy to deliver one suffering in prison for the truth's sake. God is constantly working in this way in behalf of His people, and fathers and mothers are to teach this deliverance to their children in their families and give God credit for it.

When the narrative of Peter's deliverance from the enemy who had determined to destroy him is read slowly and solemnly, it makes an impression on the minds of children and youth that keeps the story vividly before them for life. It shows that youth must be taught how to read and understand the Scriptures, with organized classes wherever biblical instruction is given. Such teaching leads minds from truth to truth up higher and higher, showing how Scripture interprets Scripture with one passage as the key to other passages, so that Scripture itself becomes the educating power holding thoughts in captivity to Christ.

Peter had been jailed for preaching Jesus contrary to human law, and his deliverance means God's servants must obey God rather than men when laws and powers oppose God, even when thrust into prison and forbidden to preach. Those who take their stand to stem prevailing iniquity and carry aggressive truth, especially when the message goes with a loud cry, will meet opposition, reproach, persecution, and strait places, but must keep bearing the message and letting their light shine wherever they are. What God did for Peter parallels later deliverances, as when John Wesley escaped an enraged mob when an angel in human form came to his side and he passed safely out of the mob's hands.