What does Acts 10:20 mean?

Peter is on the roof of the home of Simon the tanner in the coastal town of Joppa near modern-day Tel Aviv. He has just had a very strange vision: a sheet dropped from heaven with different types of animals, some of which were against the Mosaic law to eat. But a voice told him to eat. He refused. The vision happened twice more before the sheet disappeared into the sky (Acts 10:9–16).

Now, the Holy Spirit tells Peter to go downstairs and greet the three men who have just arrived at the gate. They are two servants and a soldier who work for a centurion named Cornelius who is stationed in Caesarea Maritima, the capital of Herod Agrippa I. Just as God sent the unclean food, He sends "unclean" people. "Without hesitation" in the ESV is also translated "making no distinction," perhaps similar to the "without objection" of Acts 10:29; the Greek could be translated "with no arguing," as if the Holy Spirit knows Peter will be reluctant to meet with Gentiles. Peter will learn that what he sees as a sharp distinction between Jew and Gentile is blurred—eventually dissolved—in God's kingdom.

This is not the first time the Holy Spirit has directed a Jesus-follower to a person or group of people. He sent Philip to speak with the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26). He told Ananias to find Saul, the persecutor of the church (Acts 9:10–11). And after Saul adopts the Greek version of his name, Paul, He will send him to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). In all these cases, God is moving in a direction His followers don't expect. So it is here, as Peter will share Jesus' message with a household of Gentiles.