Mount Sinai

The exact location of Mount Sinai is uncertain. The traditional site is Jebel Musa in the southern Sinai Peninsula, where Saint Catherine's Monastery was built in the 6th century. Other proposed locations include Jebel al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia and various peaks in the northern Sinai. The biblical text does not provide precise geographical coordinates.

The Bible uses both names for what appears to be the same location. Some scholars suggest Horeb may refer to the mountain range while Sinai refers to a specific peak. Both names appear in the accounts of Moses receiving the Law and Elijah's encounter with God. The names are used interchangeably throughout Scripture.

Mountains in Scripture often serve as places of divine encounter due to their elevation above the ordinary world. The height, inaccessibility, and majesty of mountains made them fitting locations for God to reveal himself. The barrier between the people below and Moses above visually represented the separation between holy God and sinful humanity, a separation bridged only by a mediator.