What role did Antioch play as the base for Paul's missionary journeys?
Antioch served as the launch point for Paul's missionary work to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas were first commissioned there by the Holy Spirit, left from Antioch, and returned there; later Paul and Silas also departed from and returned to Antioch. It was not Jerusalem, showing God's separation of Judaism and Christianity.
Les explains that Antioch, about 150-200 miles north of Jerusalem, was the place from which Paul and Barnabas were first commissioned by the Holy Spirit to go to the Gentiles in western Turkey—not Jerusalem. He notes God would not have Jerusalem serve as the jump-off point. Though he hesitates to call Antioch the headquarters of the Church, it was the place Paul and Barnabas left from and returned to; later Paul and Silas also left from Antioch for the Gentile world and came back. This illustrates God keeping Judaism and Christianity far apart, even though connected by their beginnings.