‘And when the brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.'
Once the members of the Jerusalem church recognised what was happening they immediately took him to Caesarea where he would be relatively safe. They were not to be caught unprepared again and they did not want to upset the status quo in Jerusalem. But in Acts 22:17-21 we learn also that God had informed Saul, while he was praying in the Temple, that this was in accordance with His will. For His purpose for Saul was that he might go to the Gentiles. And from Caesarea they sent him back home to Tarsus. But we must not read this negatively. Their sending of him was a sign of their oneness with him and participation in his future activities. He was not ‘sent' to Tarsus to get rid of him but so that the Good News might reach outwards to Tarsus. The expansion goes on (compare Galatians 1:21).
There is an indication in all this that Stephen's open challenge had been God's final offer to Jerusalem as a whole, so that now, while the work still continued there, concentration was elsewhere. The church in Jerusalem was now operating more quietly. As we will have noted, of the Apostles only Peter was in Jerusalem. The remainder were ministering elsewhere.