<p>12:10 <em>And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city</em>- There is huge variation in the amount of detail in the Biblical records. Many years of the lives of men like Peter aren't recorded; but here we have the finest details of a few moments of his life. This is to help us play Bible television with the material; so that we can attempt to reconstruct and relive this wonderful scene.</p><p>&quot;The iron gate that leads into the city&quot; was likely what was known as &quot;the prison gate&quot;, and this gate is mentioned only one other time in the Bible. Neh. 12:39 records that it was at this gate that the celebrating Israelites met and sung praise to God when Jerusalem was finally revived under Nehemiah. As noted under 12:8 <em>Dress yourself and put on your sandals</em>, Peter would have taken encouragement from this, as he doubtless felt full of praise himself, according to whether or not he picked up the allusion to the Nehemiah record. So many things in our lives likewise are nudges and hints towards Biblical accounts- but if we fail to perceive them, then those things remain in the large mass of apparently irrelevant and unexplained furniture in our lives.</p><p><i>This opened to them of its own accord; and they went <em>&nbsp;out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel departed from him</em></i>- Whilst walking with the Angel, Peter must have thought that nothing possibly could go wrong for him; but the Angel continued with him, it was just not visible. The 'leaving' was therefore just from his earthly perspective.</p><p>&quot;Passed on&quot; implies literally 'to follow'; the situation is replete with reference to the Angel opening the iron gates of Egypt at Passover time and leading Israel out. Further, the idea in :11 that &quot;the Lord has sent his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all that the Jews were expecting&quot; alludes clearly to the Lord sending an Angel to deliver Israel from Pharaoh = Herod and the Egyptians = the Jews. This all gives the impression that this was yet another level of conversion for Peter; again he was being 'converted', brought out of Egypt to light, just as we too have various levels of conversion, and the essence of baptism becomes an ongoing daily experience.</p>