2:4-10 · Peter began his letter with the themes of God’s elect and his mercy (1:1, 3). He ends this first section on the same note (2:9–10). He also returns to his central theme of hiddenness, though his treatment is different here. In 1:3–9 his thought was angled entirely toward the future, to the coming inheritance and the coming Lord, both now veiled, yet objects of love and joy. But now Peter turns to the past and the present. The hidden but coming Lord was rejected by humankind (2:4), who did not see the estimation God placed on him. In their present rejection, therefore, Peter’s readers are sharing the fate of Jesus himself. He was like the stone the builders rejected (2:7).

Through this paragraph, Peter continues his focus on Scripture by quoting three “stone” passages that were a…