Where do the Jews flee, and how long are they protected?
The escaping Jewish remnant flees to the wilderness, specifically the mountains southeast of Jerusalem, a designated place by a sovereign God. There they are nourished and providentially protected for a time, times, and half a time—a total of three and a half years.
Les explains that the woman represents the escaping remnant of Jews. They are given two wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness, into her place—a designated place by a sovereign God—where she is nourished, even as God took care of Israel in the wilderness with manna and water from the rock. This protection lasts for a time, plus times, plural, or a total of three and a half, from the face of the serpent. He connects Exodus and Revelation: just as Israel was isolated in Goshen from the plagues after the third plague, with a line between Egypt and Goshen so none of the plagues entered, so also this remnant will be insulated while all the ravages of the tribulation tear around them. They flee to the mountains southeast of Jerusalem and are providentially protected for that last three and a half years.