What was the purpose behind Peter's vision?

So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. Acts 10:23-24

The more immediate purpose behind the revelation Peter received wasn’t about food. It was about accepting Gentiles into the family of God. God was preparing Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius and his household (Roman Gentiles).

As we will see as we work through this passage in the coming days, God appointed Peter to lead these Gentiles to saving faith in Christ and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This would have been scandalous to a faithful religious Jew. So God gave a vision and instruction to Peter to prepare him for this work.

The vision and instructions do also instruct us about the Jewish dietary laws. Not that they were unimportant, but under the New Covenant, our devotion to God that sets us apart from the rest of the world is not merely outward—what we eat and do not eat. Under the New Covenant our “separateness” from the world is a matter of the heart. And we are not only allowed to eat what was formerly forbidden, we are to embrace all kinds of people from everywhere in the world who God is pleased to bring into His family.

Enjoy our dietary freedoms (I enjoyed BBQ’d pork ribs earlier this week!); but more importantly, let us love the brethren, no matter who they are, or where they are from.