“Exiles of the Dispersion” is a loaded phrase Peter uses here to refer to the Church. “The Dispersion” was first used to refer to the scattering of the Jews in the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles. Then, after the stoning of Stephen, it was used again of the dispersion of the roughly 5000+ Christians who were in Jerusalem. Now, nearly thirty years—and many thousands of converts—later, Peter continues to refer to the churches as “exiles of the Dispersion.” Regardless of the age or the circumstances, the Church is fittingly referred to as “exiles.” This means that, until Christ returns, we are strangers in this world, sojourners in a difficult land.