Acts 27:39-44 - Everyone reached land safely

27:39-41

When daylight came they saw a bay with a sandy beach, i.e. it was suitable for running the ship aground on. A rocky bay would have been a disaster. The bay is now called St Paul’s Bay in Malta. Even so, the ship ran aground on a sandbank and they weren’t able to get in as close as they had hoped, and the ship started to break up.

27:42-44

There was one last demonstration of Paul’s influence. The soldiers were planning to kill the prisoners for fear of them escaping. This seems a ridiculous attitude to have, and indeed it was, but there would be a price to pay for the soldiers if they let prisoners escape. The centurion wanted to preserve Paul’s life, so stopped the soldiers from executing their plan. The centurion had respect for Paul, and also knew that his duty was to get Paul to Rome. So one way or another, everyone made it safely to the shore.