Acts 27:28
And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
This sounding belongs to Paul's difficult voyage to Italy as a prisoner, with Luke and Aristarchus accompanying him as his companions. It belongs to first-century voyaging by sea, which involved peculiar hardship and peril, for mariners set their course largely by the position of the sun and stars. When sun and stars did not appear and there were signs of storm, ship owners feared to venture into the open sea, and during part of the year safe navigation was almost impossible. The event came about midnight on the fourteenth night of tossing on black, heaving billows, when the sailors heard the sound of breakers and knew land was near.
As the storm-driven ship approached land, the sailors sounded the water twice a little farther on, finding twenty fathoms and then fifteen fathoms. The decreasing depth from twenty to fifteen showed they were nearing shore and approaching a coast. The sound of breakers together with the shallowing water warned of approaching shore and made them fear falling on rocks, striking rocks, or being driven onto them. Fearing the rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for day.
The sea journey to which this sounding belongs was used by God to make His power known through Paul. It gave the ship's crew an opportunity to witness that power, and it gave the Gentiles an opportunity to hear about Jesus. Many were converted through his teaching and the miracles he performed.