And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you." All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
Exodus 12:37-51
We must not misunderstand the meaning and significance of the 'mixed multitude' referred to in the previous Note (38). It is true that no 'stranger' was allowed to eat of the Passover it was for the Lord's people alone. Yet an invitation was given to the stranger and foreigner to become one of the Lord's people. This is a paradox that Israel as a whole did not understand, and it is one of the tragedies of their history that the wrong kind of exclusion was practised. The Gentiles became abhorrent to Israel, and were despised by them as dogs, but this was certainly not the divine intention in making them a peculiar people. The separation was meant to preserve them from alien influences from the outside, not to prevent outsiders from coming in to share the blessings of His love. In the end, Israel not only failed to keep evil influences from entering in to adulterate their pilgrim faith, but also effectively prevented, by their pride and arrogance, those who would have come in from sharing the grace of the Lord's covenant. The ill-fated fruits of this disastrous misconception are seen in the attitude of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13; Luke 11:52) in the time of our Lord, and in the reaction of the Jews in general against the gospel (Acts 22:21, 22).