Peter reminded his readers that the prophets had predicted that Jesus Christ's life, as their own lives, would include suffering followed by glory. He mentioned this to encourage them to realize that their experience was not abnormal.
"To the elaborated and elevated declaration of his eschatological vision in vv 6-9, Peter now adds an explanatory postscript in a more didactic style. He pauses to measure the greatness of the salvation mentioned in vv 5 and 9 with a brief but wide-ranging reflection on the past and present. The curiosity of prophets' (v. 10) and angels' (v 12) underscores the mystery of the divine plan: God in his sovereignty has long kept secret the salvation soon to be revealed to his chosen ones (cf. Eph 3:4-6)."39
These verses reveal a chiastic structure centering on the idea that God clarified what had formerly been unclear to the prophets.
1:10-11 Salvation is the major concept that Peter was discussing. He wanted his readers to remember that it included suffering as well as glory. The Old Testament prophets had predicted that Messiah would experience both suffering and glory (e.g., Isa. 61:1-3). However, they did not understand how His suffering and glory would fit together. It is possible to understand that mystery only after Jesus' earthly ministry.
"He [Peter], who wanted to hear nothing of it [Christ's sufferings] during the lifetime of Jesus, made Jesus' suffering and death the very centre of his explanation of Jesus' earthly work."40
Many Christians do not realize that God intended our experience to include both suffering and glory.
The title "Spirit of Christ"occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Romans 8:9. In both places it probably signifies not only that the Spirit came from Christ but also that He witnesses to Christ as His representative (cf. John 15:16-17). Peter was stressing the Spirit's witness to Christ in the Old Testament rather than the preexistence of Christ.41
Some interpreters have seen the phrase "the grace that would come to you"(v. 10) as a reference to the salvation of Gentiles. The Old Testament prophets predicted this, too (e.g., Isa. 52:15). Peter's original audience was probably predominantly Gentile groups of Christians. It seems more likely, however, that Peter was not referring exclusively to prophecy about Gentile salvation. He seems to have been referring to the grace God promised to bestow on believers generally, including Gentile salvation, about which he had been speaking in verses 3-9.
These verses clearly distinguish, by the way, between the divine author and the human writers of Scripture. The prophets were not merely religious geniuses. They were people through whom God spoke (2 Pet. 1:21). At times they knew that they did not fully comprehend what they were communicating. At other times they probably thought they understood but did not completely realize the full significance of what they communicated (cf. Dan. 9; 12:5-13; Hab. 2:1-4). They did not know the time when Messianic prophecies would be fulfilled.
1:12 The prophets did understand, however, that God would not fulfill all of their inspired revelations in their own days but in the future. God had fulfilled the prophecies about Messiah's sufferings in Peter's day, but He had not fulfilled the prophecies of Messiah's glorification yet. Even the angels are waiting to see how and exactly when God will fulfill them (cf. Heb. 1:5-2:18).
Note that the Holy Spirit has a ministry of illumination as well as inspiration. He enables others to understand God's revelation as preachers explain it and, of course, as they hear it in other ways.
Peter's point in verses 10-12 seems to be that his readers could rejoice in their sufferings even though they could not see exactly how or when their present trials would end. The readers should find encouragement by looking at the prophets' limited understanding of their own prophecies dealing with the suffering and glorification of Messiah. God would bring their own experiences to a glorious completion just as He would Messiah's, though in both cases the details of fulfillment were not yet clear.
