"Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be whipped. After a severe beating, they were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to lock them up tight. Upon receiving this order, the jailer threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet between heavy blocks of wood."

(Acts 16.22-24 GNB)

What made the jailer put two severely beaten civilians into his most secure prison setup? Paul and Silas were not violent men.

Did he learn about Peter's miraculous disappearance from the prison (Acts 12) and wanted to make sure that did not happen to him? Was he afraid of Paul and Silas? I do not know.

But to whatever extreme he took, unknowingly to him, God used that to bring about God's plan. Against his expectation, even the most secure prison could not hold back God's plan.

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, which shook the prison to its foundations. At once all the doors opened, and the chains fell off all the prisoners. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped; so he pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, “Don't harm yourself! We are all here!”

The jailer called for a light, rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your family.” "

(Acts 16.25-31 GNB)