Despite the difficult situation, Paul and Silas spent at least part of the time praying and singing hymns. This may not have made them too popular with other prisoners, so perhaps it was fortunate that they were in the inner cell, which may have meant they were in seclusion from the other prisoners (though they could certainly hear them). Sometimes factors which on the face of it seem to make things more difficult can actually be to our advantage, for they can make calling upon the name of the Lord the only option, and can make it easier for us to do so.
At midnight there was a violent earthquake, the foundations were shaken and the prison doors flew open. Everyone was set free. The jailer had been given special orders to guard Paul and Silas and imagined that his life was now worth nothing, so he was about to kill himself. Paul stops him, and the guard asks Paul what he must do to be saved. Paul tells him to believe in Jesus, and the guard's whole family is saved and baptised. So a situation which initially seemed desperate for him was actually the door to salvation.
In the morning the orders came for Paul and Silas to be released. One might think this was rather superfluous now, presumably the magistrate did not know what had happened. So why did God free Paul in such a dramatic fashion? Perhaps He did this on order to save the jailer.
One might also have thought that Paul and Silas would just have been glad to be free, but instead Paul objected to the officers, taking advantage of his rights as a Roman citizen. Being a Roman citizen was a privileged position, so the magistrates were alarmed. So they gave them special attention and Paul and Silas went to Lydia's house. It is still not clear why Paul made such a fuss.
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