What does Acts 12:13 mean?
Minutes before, Peter was sound asleep, chained between two guards in a prison cell. It was after sundown, the night after the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Herod Agrippa I was about to send for him and see to his execution. An angel came, instead, nudged Peter in the side to wake him, and led him through formerly locked gates and attentive soldiers to the street outside the prison (Acts 12:6–11).Peter has come to the home of Mary, whose son is John Mark, to let the church know he is safe before he goes into hiding. Scholars posit that Mary is the owner of the "upper room" where Jesus held the Last Supper (John 13:1–38). She hosts at least one home church in Jerusalem—possibly the headquarters of the apostles. The fact that Mary has a gateway suggests she has a forecourt; she must be fairly rich.
When the angel rescued Peter, Peter's shackles fell from his hands, guards saw nothing, gates opened freely. Now, Peter is standing at the gate of a woman he knows well in front of a house that holds several of his friends, but he can't get in. Once more, a servant girl stands between him and safety (Mark 14:66–72).
Rhoda's reaction to Peter's arrival combines humor and joy—she's excited enough about seeing him that she runs to tell others while forgetting to actually let him in (Acts 12:14).
