Presumably Peter assumes that his letter will be picked up and read repeatedly in the church and thus, even after his death, serve as a continual reminder (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27) of the exhortation that he has given.1 Thus the letter will in a certain sense stand in for his presence. This idea is consistent with the common understanding of the time where letters stood in for living speech and for the living presence of the speaker. Each letter would thus represent its writer to the recipient in his or her absence.2
15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.