The Exodus route: tracing Israel's journey from Egypt

The Exodus is the foundational story of Israel — the liberation from Egyptian slavery, the crossing of the sea, the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and the 40-year journey to the Promised Land. While scholars debate the exact route, the geography of the land makes the story vivid.

Most scholars place the crossing at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez or the Reed Sea marshlands east of the Nile Delta. The traditional site of Mount Sinai is Jebel Musa in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, though some scholars argue for locations in Saudi Arabia or the Negev.

What's beyond debate is the destination. When you stand at Mount Nebo in Jordan and look west across the Jordan Valley — the same vista Moses saw — you understand the emotional weight of Deuteronomy 34. Forty years of wandering, and there it is: the land flowing with milk and honey, green and gold in the distance. Moses saw it but couldn't enter. Joshua would lead the people across the Jordan and into history.