What does Acts 10:6 mean?

An angel is talking to a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Centurions were leaders of cohorts of soldiers; although "centurion" infers 100, the number of soldiers in a cohort is not standard. Cornelius, despite being Roman, worships the Jewish God faithfully. God has chosen him and his household to be the first group of Gentiles to be saved (Acts 10:1–5).

To that end, the angel tells Cornelius to send for Peter who is residing in Joppa, about thirty-five miles south of Cornelius' station in Caesarea Maritima. Peter is staying with a tanner named Simon who lives on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 9:43). The process of tanning hides is disgusting to most and very smelly, so tanners typically lived outside of town. Peter apparently has no problem living with a Jewish tanner, but must be convinced through a vision from God to go to the home of a Gentile (Acts 10:9–23).

It's interesting how much Saul's experience parallels that of Cornelius. In both cases, God prepared the men and told them what to do (Acts 9:1–8). Then He prepared His evangelists, Ananias (Acts 9:10–16) and Peter (Acts 10:9–23). Both Ananias and Peter were reluctant, so God reassured them of His plan. Their obedience resulted in two major steps in the spread of the gospel. Cornelius' conversion convinced Peter and the other core disciples that Gentiles could follow Christ. Saul's conversion prepared him to be the primary evangelist to the Gentiles.