Sheet - Acts 11:5-10

Acts 11:5-10 NASB
“ I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four- footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat. ’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth. ’ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘ What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. ’ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.

"sheet" is how this Greek word is usually translated.
οθονη othone; of unc. or.; fine linen, hence a sheet or sail:--
sheet (2).

The word sheet does not convey some of the nuances of the Greek.

The sheet Peter saw in the vision might point toward the New Jerusalem to come. It was made of fine linen which could point to the righteousness off the saints. The Bride of Christ is said to be clothed in linen. New Jerusalem descends from heaven, but descends to stay. The sheet coming down three times may point to the resurrection. Not only is the number three a stamp of the divine, but it may point to the coming of Christ and His ascension to the throne.

The four corners might cause us to remember that the city will be as a square, just as the earth is often said to have four corners. Peter see creatures of the earth within this sheet. What was unclean is now clean. The salvation of God is for everyone.

If the usage of this Greek word for sail is considered, this might remind us of the Holy Spirit filling this sheet like a good wind filling the sail of a boat moving across the water.

There is often more being said than one might see with a casual reading.