Four principal routes for the exodus have been suggested.

1. A shorter, northeastern route going through Philistine territory along the "way of the sea".
2. A middle route heading across the Negeb to Beersheba (the Way of Shur), the probable route the patriarchs traveled to Egypt.
3. The Way of Seir that led from the Gulf of Suez via Eilat to the mountain of Seir in Edom, present-day southern Jordan, a route Moslem pilgrims travel on the hajj to Mecca.
4. "The way to the hill country of the Amorites" (Deut. 1:19), a route leading to the southernmost extremities of the Sinai peninsula.

Israel was specifically warned not to take the northernmost route through the land of the Philistines (Exod. 13:17). The Egyptians frequently used this route. In the reign of Seti I (1313-1301 B.C.) it was known as the Way of Horus, but Scripture labels it the Way of the Philistines or the Way of the Sea.

The second route, called the Way of Shur, passed between the lakes where the Egyptians had constructed a fortification line named "Shur Mitzrayim" (Wall of Egypt). Israel would not have wanted to encounter Egyptian soldiers in such fortifications. Besides, Mount Sinai cannot be equated with Jebel Helal as champions of this view argue.

The way of Seir or the Way of the Celebrants is a more modern route and does not appear to play a part in the biblical narrative.

If we accept a southern location for Mount Sinai, then the fourth option is the proper one for the exodus route.

The staging point for Israel's journey was Rameses (Exod. 12:37; Num. 33:3,5), one of the store-cities in the eastern Nile Delta. This site is best identified with Oantir on the eastern arm of the Nile River Delta. Later the Israelites would arrive in Kadesh Barnea (Num. 33:36; Deut. 1:19) where they would spend "many days" (Deut. 1:46).

Kadesh Barnea is almost unanimously identified with Ain el-Qudeirat, where two ancient and important desert routes merged in northeastern Sinai, next to the most important spring in the northern Sinai peninsula. These two sites form the beginning and the end of the wilderness trek.

After leaving Rameses, Israel came to Succoth (Exod. 12:37; Num. 33:5). They went on to Etham "on the edge of the wilderness" (Num. 33:6; probably a region known as Atuma, a desert beginning at Lake Timsah and extending west and south). Then they turned back to the west and then south to get around the bulging upper part of the large Bitter Lake, camping at Migdol (Num. 33:7). A possible location for Migdol (tower) is a Migdol near Succoth or the ruins of a square tower on a height known as Jebel Abu Hasan overlooking the southern part of the small Bitter Lake.

The exact place where Israel crossed the Red (Hebrew "reed") Sea is unknown. But that crossing is best placed at the southern end of the Bitter Lakes or even better in the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez itself.

The wilderness itinerary begins in Exodus 12:27, continues in 13:20; 14:2, and resumes after the crossing in Exodus 15:22-27.

The first stops Israel made are generally agreed upon identifications. The Wilderness of Shur ranges on Egypt's northeastern frontier eastward into the northwestern quarter of the Sinai peninsula. Israel's first stop is traditionally placed by local Arabs at Ain Musa, the "Springs of Moses." This site is sixteen to eighteen hours north of the first site mentioned in Scripture, Marah. Ain Musa is about ten miles south of the northern end of the Red Sea and about one half mile inland from the eastern shore of the Red Sea.

The journey from Ain Musa to Marah is about forty miles. Bounded by the blue waters of the Gulf of Suez on their right and the mountain chain of El Ruhat off to their left at some distance, Israel had to contend with rocky desert at first. Nine more miles and they came to the glaring sands of the desert plain called Ati. Then the sand dunes turned into a hilly country rolling out to the coast.

Marah is usually identified with Ain Hawara, a site several miles inland from the Gulf. It is a place still notorious for its brackish, salty, bitter, and unpleasant tasting water. Arabs still consider it the worst water in all the region!

Numbers 33:5-11 lists seven places of encampment, but only one three-day journey. Israel no doubt stayed at several of these places for a number of days or they camped at a number of places not mentioned, or places with no distinct names. From Elim they came to the Wilderness of Sin. This wilderness is either along the coastal plain, el Markha, or inland Debbet er Ramleh. This area forms a crescent between the famous ancient Egyptian copper and turquoise mining center of Serabit el Khadim of the Eighteenth and twentieth Dynasties of Egypt.

Rephidim is best identified with Wadi Refayid in southwest Sinai. Here Israel was attacked by the Amalekites.

Finally Israel reached Sinai. Several mountains have been associated with Sinai: Gebel Musa, Ras es-safsafeh, Gebel Serbal, and a mountain near al-Hrob. The al-Hrob location is the least likely since it is a volcanic mountain to the east of the Gulf of Aqabah. Gebel Serbal does not have a wilderness at its base, so the choice must be made between Gebel Musa (7,363 feet elevation at the southern end of er-Rah) or Ras es-safsafeh (6,540 feet high at the northern edge of the plain). Most prefer to identify Mount Sinai with Gebel Musa because of its important granite formations and, more importantly, because of its relation to the plain. (Exod. 20:18, "They stayed at a distance.")

The route from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea is described in Deuteronomy 1:19 as "that great and terrible wilderness." According to Deuteronomy 1:2, this journey would have led Israel up a series of valleys between the main Sinai plateau and the coastal chain of mountains of Ezion Geber on the north end of the Gulf of Aqabah. The journey covered only eleven days. None of the stops listed in Numbers 33:17-35 can be identified with any degree of certainty except Hazeroth with Ain Khadra, a spring some eighteen hours from Sinai. The two terms used to describe this general area are the Wilderness of Paran and the Wilderness of Zin. The first is just outside of Sinai, and the latter is the region in which Kadesh was located.

From Kadesh Barnea, Israel eventually made its way to the plains of Moab and poised for finally entering the land.