We see an angel again having a role in proceedings. Elsewhere in the New Testament (eg Colossians, Hebrews, and Revelation) we see warnings against focusing too much on angels. At the same time, in Acts we see angels continuing to play a role. As it says in Hebrews 1:14, angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. God uses angels as part of His plans, so it should come as no surprise (though it probably will be a surprise when it happens) if He occasionally sends an angel to help us. However, we must never start glorying in what we have seen, or our experience of angels, this is a mark of false teachers. In Revelation the angel commanded John not to worship him. Our focus should always be on Christ. As an aside, note that Hebrews refers to them as "spirits". As I said repeatedly when commenting on 1 Corinthians 15, spirit does not equal ghost. Angels often appeared as men, and were most definitely real. The spiritual is totally real, and interacts with the physical.
The angel instructed Jospeh to flee to Egypt until it was safe to return. There are echoes here of the other Joseph taking the Israelites to Egypt during the time of famine in Genesis. Matthew quotes from Hoses 11:1.
Herod reacts with the infamous "slaughter of the innocent", the killing of all the boy children under two years old. The total numbers would not have been great, so we must not over exaggerate the incident, though of course it is still terrible. It demonstrates how some men will react to the news of Jesus. Matthew quotes from Jeremiah 3:15
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