The sojourn in the wilderness lasted eight years. While traveling in a south-easterly direction, they may have reached some point in the present Yemen, a thousand miles from Jerusalem. Traveling in an easterly direction, another thousand miles would have taken them to the Arabian Sea, perhaps in the present country of Oman. They could have made that in eight years.
Arabia is a large country, almost as large as one-fourth of Europe. Along the western part of the peninsula a mountain chain runs parallel with the Red Sea. From this mountain range the country slopes toward the east. It is sparsely watered, but has many oases. The province of Oman is mountainous, with majestic peaks which lift their heads as high as 10,000 feet above the sea.