The actual Greek word chosen by Peter in this text conveys the idea of being uncovered or laid open for exposure. It isn’t a matter of utter destruction but of stripping everything away and getting back down to the original elements. The great universal conflagration that Peter describes will be a purification of the cosmos, a burning away of everything associated with sin, death, the curse, and the temporal. Peter didn’t use a word that meant annihilation but one having to do with renovation.
