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Exodus 12:37-38
Exodus 12:38 tells us the "mixed multitude went up with" the children of Israel. These folk fell in step with God's army as it marched out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses. For how long? Their presence during the quail incident, cited above, indicates that these peoples were still with the Israelites at least one year after the first Passover. That means that the mixed multitude was present at Mount Sinai, some fifty days after the Red Sea crossing.This means they were present at the giving of the Law!
Whoever they were, the peoples of the mixed multitude were much more than just witnesses of God's strength. Even the unbelieving Egyptians witnessed that! The mixed multitude partook of God's grace, experienced it with the children of Israel. Whoever they were, these people were fellow-travelers with Israel for a time, experiencing with them the power of God as He pulled them "out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 4:20; see also I Kings 8:51; Jeremiah 11:4).
Both Israel and the mixed multitude experienced His might as He destroyed the most powerful nation on earth at that time. They both experienced deliverance from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. They both experienced the shaking of Sinai as God thundered the Ten Commandments. They both ate the manna and drank water from the Rock! They both were baptized in the Red Sea (see I Corinthians 10:1-4). The folk God calls the "mixed multitude" were partakers with Israel!
Charles Whitaker
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What Does Exodus 12:37 Mean?
The 600,000 men were fighting men over the age of twenty, accompanied by the mixed multitude that joined Israel's departure from Egypt. These peoples remained with Israel at least a year after the first Passover, present at Mount Sinai for the giving of the Law. They partook of God's grace alongside Israel, experiencing His might as He destroyed Egypt, delivered them at the Red Sea, thundered the Ten Commandments at Sinai, provided manna and water from the Rock, and baptized them in the sea. Moses did not assemble everyone as a disorganized mass, but lined them up like a parade according to tribes and families. Counting men, women, and children, a conservative estimate places the total around 2½ million people.