What does Exodus 2:21 mean?

This verse seems to collapse Moses' visit (Exodus 2:20) with his decision to stay in Midian. Despite fleeing a palace, and all he had known growing up in Egypt, Moses was "content" to live with Reuel (Exodus 2:17–19) and his family.

Also, Moses married Reuel's daughter Zipporah. She is mentioned by name only two other times in Scripture. Exodus 4:25 records when and why Zipporah circumcised their son. In Exodus 18:2 Zipporah is recorded to have traveled home from Egypt to her father, clearly for safety reasons. She would rejoin Moses in the wilderness after the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 18:5–6). In that same passage, we learn that Reuel was also known as Jethro.

This would become the context of Moses' life for the next forty years (Exodus 7:7). He would live with his wife and the rest of Reuel's family in Midian, serving as a shepherd. Acts 7:29 describes this time, saying, "Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons." God would use these quiet years to prepare Moses for his future calling. Moses would one day lead people, not sheep, bringing the Jewish people from slavery (Exodus 12:41) into a new land.