This passage seems a bit complicated and may be confusing on the first read. Again Peter is providing Christ as the example for what he has just asked of us as believers. In the previous verses, Peter tells believers to do good in the face of evil and to have an answer ready for anyone who asks for the reason for our hope. Jesus suffered for doing right. Jesus suffered once in that His death was fully sufficient for all sins. He was righteous and died for us, the unrighteous in order to reconcile us with God (2 Cor 5:19). Peter confirms that Jesus died physically and was raised again by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 19 and 20 have been subject to various interpretations including the idea that Jesus, between His death and resurrection, descended into hell and preached to souls imprisoned there, but there is no Scriptural support for this view. It is most likely that these verses both deal with the same topic, that of the time of Noah. Jesus ministered through Noah by means of the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Christ, 1 Peter 1:11) to the ungodly who, at the time of Peter’s writing, are imprisoned and awaiting final judgment. God was patient at that time giving people 120 years while Noah built the ark. But when the time came, only eight people were saved by the ark as they came through the floodwater. Noah is an example of one who committed himself to God’s course of action though he suffered much ridicule. Noah didn’t fear men but feared God and his reward was the salvation of himself and his family. Peter now points out that baptism corresponds to this. Peter affirms that baptism itself doesn’t save, “not as a removal of dirt from the body”. Baptism represents a break from our former lives to live in good conscience with God. But Peter still says that baptism, like Noah’s ark, now saves them (the readers). How were they going to be saved through baptism? As Jewish believers in the first century, they could be tempted to distance themselves from Christ in order to avoid persecution. Baptism was the basis of public testimony of identifying with Christ. By strongly identifying with Jesus, they distanced themselves from the Jewish community that was facing God’s impending judgment. Peter finishes with a focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God with all authority. Our trust must be firmly placed in the resurrected and ascended Lord who is in control of all circumstances.

Are you firmly committed to Christ and prepared to live boldly for Him within an increasingly godless generation? What might cause you to shy away from your faith and distance yourself from Christ? Peter reminds us what Christ has done for us as a strong motivation to depend wholly on Him.