‘Now on the morrow, as they were on their journey, and drew near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.'
It took them a day to get to Joppa. Meanwhile in Joppa Peter went onto the rooftop of the house in order to pray at noon. The flat roofs of houses in Palestine were places of quiet, of relaxation and of prayer. From there he would have a clear view all around and many commentators consider that the vision (not dream) might have arisen because a canopy hung over him keeping out the sun, or because he was looking out at a canopy stretched out over rocks where seamen could shelter, or even because he had spotted the billowing sails of a boat. It is equally possible that he had actually recently seen something like this when a boat was being unloaded. But the description is rather to be looked on as practical. How else were a group of living creatures to be see as being lowered from heaven?