Harod is a man who wants to be like. He was liked by the Jews for what he was doing the the Christians and was willing to do more harm so that he would become more liked. He is clearly not afraid to kill someone as he killed both James and his guards after Peter escaped.

In this passage, we learn that Peter is highly respected by the people that he were praying for him. It only takes a wave of his hands for them to be quiet. Perhaps their respect for him increased by the actual fact that he showed up when he was supposed to be in jail. I also think that the fact that he departed after being with them shows that he may not have wanted to associate those people with his escape, even though they were the ones who were praying for his release. I think this was to protect them.