A number of commentators seem to think this letter was written from Rome and was directed towards Gentile Christians. Here Michael Penny points out, with plenty of scriptural evidence, that Peter’s addressees were Christians of the Jewish diaspora, and that Peter’s claim to be in Babylon was very likely true.
These Jewish Christians considered themselves to be living in the ‘last days’, and they were being harried by none other than their own people, the Jewish leadership. Once we realise this, a number of puzzling passages are clarified.
Even so, many of Peter’s exhortations could be applied to any Christian today for the letter is one of encouragement.
