Verse 1– “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.”
Moses kept Jethro’s flock “on the back side of the desert,” which was the west side of the desert, since people in that part of the world faced east when giving directions (not north as we do today). Moses came to Horeb (Sinai), a place in which God seemed to take special interest. “The back side of the desert” is a good place to be alone with God. Some solitude is a very good thing. All of us need some solitude. We can focus on God best when the world is blocked out and does not distract us from considering Him.