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Have you ever prayed and felt your prayer was not answered? The storm just kept
coming. In reality, when you looked back, God had probably already resolved your
issue – it time was needed for the circumstantial events to fall into place.

In the dark, they know they are nearing land because they are sounding the depth.
(Acts 27:27-28) A huge lead plummet is let down by rope until it becomes slack and
the spaced knots in the rope measure their depth. They find themselves at 120 feet
and a few moments later, at 90 feet. Good news and bad news – they are closing on

land, but they can’t see it in the storm’s darkness. And they are approaching shallow
water fast.

In response, they cast four anchors out of the stern (or the

rear) of the ship to hold them from crashing into the rocks.

How did they know there were rocks in the dark storm?

The sounding tool. – A lead weight dropped into the water
with knots in the rope to determine depth aided in their un-
derstanding of their position in the dark sea. The lead plum-
met would be coated in grease or animal fat and lowered.

They wanted to see sand on it when it was retrieved. If the
tool came back clean, it meant rocks lay between them and
the sand and presented great danger.

Men began to lower the smaller boats – hoping to escape the
danger and Paul turns to his guard Julius – instead of the to
the Master of the Ship and the Commandeer who had the
authority and says “Except these abide in the ship…”

Except These Abide in the Ship

Here’s a lesson worthy of closer examination. A few verses back Paul says God has
guaranteed the safety of all involved. If that’s true, what does it matter whether these
men get into the boats or not? Luke gives us the exact number of souls on board and

he also records not the loss of a single one. Why does Paul care?