Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 2:19

"And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:" — Acts 2:19 (ASV)

And I will show wonders in heaven above. Saint Peter quotes the terrifying words that follow, apparently for the sake of the promise with which they conclude in Acts 2:21. But as it was not yet given to him to know the times and the seasons (Acts 1:7), he may well have looked for the “great and notable day” as about to come in his own time.

The imagery is drawn from one of the great thunderstorms of Palestine. There is the lurid, blood-red hue of clouds and sky; there are the fiery flashes, the columns or pillars of smoke-like clouds billowing from the abyss. These, in turn, were probably thought of as symbols of bloodshed, fire, and smoke, such as are involved in the capture and destruction of a city like Jerusalem.