Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'" And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
Exodus 16:9-10
There are different ways of interpreting the 'theophany' described in 10. That it was a special and unusual appearance of the glory of the Lord we need not doubt, and in face of the graciousness of the provision that was about to be made for Israel, it may very well be construed as having been meant as an encouragement to the people, and an assurance that in their time of need God was still with them. On the other hand, however, it seems clear that the Lord was displeased with them for their murmuring, and the manifestation of the glory may have been meant as a rebuke to them. But there is another possibility. Israel had challenged Moses and Aaron in murmuring against them, and God is ever concerned to vindicate His servants against such maligning; it may well be therefore that we should understand these verses in this sense. We shall have other instances of this divine vindication throughout the story of Exodus, and this should perhaps serve to remind us that God has a special care for His servants to support them and take their side against the oppositions of evil men. This is something that will bear thinking about. There is, after all, the verse in the Psalms, 'Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm' (Psalm 105:15).