It was evident from 1 Peter 1:3–9 that the salvation Peter’s readers received was immensely delightful. In 1 Peter 1:10–12 Peter seeks to explain that this salvation is so delightful that, a) prophets of the past tried to understand its wonders but could not quite get it; b) angels of heaven stretched themselves to try to see it.
The point Peter is making is that the elect exiles of the Dispersion are richer than prophets of the past because the Lord has granted progress in the history of redemption with the arrival, death, and resurrection of his Son. They are also the envy of the angels of heaven because they have received as children of God the salvation that angels (as God’s servants, Psalm 103:20; Hebrews 1:14) could not in the past see and in the future will never inherit.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,