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).
Acts 12:12–19 records Peter quickly telling the story of his escape from a Roman prison before fleeing. Herod Agrippa I had arrested and beheaded James and found the Sanhedrin greatly impressed. He arrested Peter, as well, and planned to execute him after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:1–5), but an angel arrived first and led Peter out of prison (Acts 12:6–11). Once Peter realized he wasn't dreaming he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12–19). Peter will reappear briefly in Acts 15:6–11, but this is the last significant mention of any of the apostles in the book of Acts.
Acts 12 starts with the first death of an apostle and ends with the death of a king. Herod Agrippa I beheads James and imprisons Peter. An angel rescues Peter and he quickly lets the church in Jerusalem know before he goes into hiding. Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great and friend to the Pharisees, accepts glory due only to God and dies, likely a few days later, of internal worms. Meanwhile, the church continues to grow, and Barnabas and Saul return to Syrian Antioch. The scene is set for Paul's extensive ministry to the Gentiles.
