I could envision one night after the evening new Jay Leno taking his crew to the street for a “Jay Walking” segment. The theme would be popular religious stories. Most people he would talk to would know something about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. However, most people would only think of the deliverance through plagues, the crossing of the sea, and then it must be a happy ending. Somehow the desert wandering has fallen to the way side. Perhaps the desert wandering is not popular because it is not a very desirable situation. Yet I think it is a situation we all can connect with.
This was crystallized when I was a camp counselor during college. I worked at a camp that allowed the counselors to craft a daily plan for their small groups to experientially teach the lesson. My co-counselor and I chose to use the desert wandering to illustrate the 
struggle we go through to find God.
We paired the members of our group up with different challenges such as carrying a tennis ball between their elbows or tied together three-legged race style. Then we went on out on a day long hike. We did not cover many miles that day instead we walked around in a spiral. We had several stops to read the wandering portion of the Exodus story. Some of our stops required the group to complete a low ropes challenge. While other stops were joyous, a chance to swim in a creek, a much needed lunch break, etc. When we returned to camp that evening we were all changed even the adult leaders. I can never look at the desert wandering quite the same way I now feel connected to the story.
Over the years oppressed groups have held the Exodus story up as a beacon of hope for the day when they too would get a deliverance. Or perhaps they took a message of perseverance from the story to the day when they reached the promised land. I think metaphorically this is one of the truest pictures of a Christian walk. God’s ways are mysterious and as his follower I never can fully understand where we are headed. I all too often open my mouth demanding something I want and/or feel like I am owed. When the going gets tough it is way too easy to grumble. These tough times are the chisels of God shaping and forming those that he is leading. There is something intimate in the desert wandering. Not only does it require complete reliance on God, but the follower in desperation lets go of all formality in approaching God. The worshiper of God finds a freedom to fully express themselves to their creator in the midst of their desert wandering.