From the words of the Writer of Acts we can conclude that Cornelius was aware of the falsehood of paganism and revered the true God. He expressed his reverence for God by good deeds, and in the good rules of faith and life he kept his entire house. From v. 30 it is clear that Cornelius even observed the hours of prayer customary among the Jews. And while he was praying, an angel appeared to him, who commanded him to send to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter: "He will tell you the words by which you and all your household will be saved," that is, he will teach you a doctrine, by believing which you and all your household will receive salvation. Cornelius immediately fulfilled the command of the angel, sending two of his servants and a pious soldier to Joppa, telling them everything so that they could induce Peter to come to him, considering it unseemly to call him themselves by virtue of their authority. From Caesarea to Joppa was about 40-45 versts. For this reason, those sent by Cornelius after the 9th hour, after three o'clock in the afternoon, could not come to Joppa until the next day at noon. It was at this time, about 6 o'clock, that Peter ascended, according to custom, to the flat roof of the house to pray. There he felt hunger, and he was attacked by a "frenzy", in Greek "ecstasis" – a state when a person is as if beside himself.

In this state, the external world with all its impressions is completely closed to the external senses of man, and the phenomena of another invisible world are revealed to his inner sense. The Holy Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3 [55] expresses himself very characteristically about such a state, which he himself experienced: "Whether in the body I do not know, whether outside the body I do not know, God knows."

In this state, Peter saw the "open heaven" and from it descending, as it were, a large cloth, tied at the four corners above in the open sky. In this canvas, Peter saw all kinds of animals - quadrupeds, reptiles and birds.

"And a voice came to him, saying, Arise, Peter, kill and eat." Peter was probably on his knees or prostrate on the ground in a prayerful position. There were all kinds of animals in the linen - both clean and unclean. A voice from heaven seemed to invite Peter to eat any animal, without making a distinction. The Apostle turned his attention to this, in fact, side of the command as unusual, and therefore forcefully objected:

"Lord, I have never eaten anything filthy or unclean." To this the voice answered him: "What God has cleansed, you do not consider unclean, in contrast to God": in these words is the meaning of the whole vision, which Peter could not understand at first, but which was soon explained to him.

The meaning and purpose of the whole vision is this: all these animals symbolically signified all mankind; the clean animals denoted the chosen people of God – the Jews, and the unclean – the pagans, whom God cleansed by the death of Christ the Redeemer on the cross, and therefore in the new Kingdom of God on earth – the Kingdom of the Messiah or the Church of Christ, there is and should not be a difference between Jews and Gentiles – all are equally cleansed by the precious Blood of the Lamb of God Christ, and all are equally worthy to enter His Kingdom. As can be seen from v. 28, Peter later correctly understood the meaning of this vision.

This vision opened a new epoch in the history of the early Christian Church, the epoch of the calling of paganism to Christianity without the mediation of Judaism.

This vision was repeated three times, as a sign of its immutability, and then those sent by the centurion Cornelius came for Peter. Since Peter, who did not immediately understand the meaning of the vision, could be perplexed as to whether he, as a Jew, could follow the invitation of a pagan, he immediately received a new revelation from the Spirit of God: "Go with them, not doubting in the least; for I have sent them." Peter did not immediately depart, but invited the messengers to his house and entertained them, of course, because the journey was far away, and they set out on their journey only the next day.

On the following day, that is, on the fourth day after Cornelius had the vision, as is evident from v. 30, they arrived at Caesarea, where Cornelius was waiting for them, who had apparently summoned like-minded relatives and friends. Thus, in the house of Cornelius, a more or less significant society of pagans gathered, ready to believe in Christ. Meeting Peter, Cornelius bowed down to him, "falling at his feet." Something special was expressed in this earthly worship: it is possible that Cornelius, as a pagan, considered Peter to be someone higher than an ordinary man. And so Peter emphatically rejected such self-worship by saying, "Arise, I am also a man," that is, I am a man like all others. In this, of course, one can see Peter's deep humility. Finding many pagans gathered in the house, Saint Peter said that it was forbidden for a Jew to associate or approach a foreigner, but that God had revealed to him that he should not consider a single person to be filthy or unclean, and therefore he came unquestioningly, and asked for what purpose they had called him.

В законе Моисеевом, собственно, нет запрещения еврею входить в общение с язычником, но позднейшее раввинство, под влиянием фарисейства, развило учение о том, что для еврея войти в дом язычника считается уже осквернением. Из слов Петра видно, что он понял смысл бывшего ему видения. В ответ на вопрос Петра, Корнилий просто передал о бывшем ему видении. Тогда Петр начал свою проповедь о Христе.

В речи Петра ясно различаются три составных части:

1) Вступительное изречение о принятии в Царство Божие людей добродетельных и набожных из всех народов без различия (ст. 34-35);

2) Краткое изображение деятельности Иисуса Христа до Его смерти (36-39) и по воскресении (40-42) и

3) ссылка на пророческие изречения о спасении всех во Христе (43).