Historical/Cultural: This verse provides us with some hints as to how the family traveled. Nephi notes that after traveling for several days, they pitched tents "for the space of a time." Certainly the family had not traveled without ceasing for several days, and the stop to "pitch tents" may or may not have been a unique event. That is, they may or may not have pitched tents at the end of each day's journey. Regardless of how they spent the nights on the days of journeying, they now come to a point where they will stop and re-provision.
The implication of the stop for the "space of a time" is that the family would store up provisions, and then travel for several days. This is consistent with the less than abundant area through which they were traveling. With stored food they might survive for several days, but upon arriving at a location where the collection of foodstuffs was more favorable, they would "pitch our tents" and make a longer camp. As indicated in verse 17, this would be for the specific purpose of rest and gathering food.
The Hilton's reconstruction of the trail of the family places this stopping place near the ancient port of Jeddah (Allen, Joseph. Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon. S.A. Publishers, 1989, p. 265).