Moshe wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, at the commandment of G-d.
(Numbers 33:2)

This sidra opens with a list of the forty-two places where the Israelites encamped during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness.  Forty verses record nothing more than the names of places where the people encamped and from which they journeyed.  To highlight the fact that these verses recall a travel itinerary, the custom in the Synagogue is to sing them to a marching tune. The kabbalist Rav Abraham Saba says that the forty two journeyings correspond to the forty-two letters of the Divine Name containing that number of letters and that the reading of the verses should not be interrupted in the Torah Aliyah.   The meaning is that G-d was with the Israelites at all times during their wanderings; never did His Presence depart from them.

Many commentators ask the meaning of the seemingly pointless list of names, especially as the text says that Moshe wrote them at the commandment of G-d.  Rashi suggests that the Torah's intention is to show the kindness of the Almighty in that during the many years in the desert the Israelites made only a limited number of journeys and therefore they were able to have much rest.   Rambam says that the purpose is that future generations should know that God performed miracles for Israel by keeping them alive in the heart of the desert; they should not think that the Israelites merely skirted the wilderness or dwelt only in habitable areas. (Guide 3:50)  Sforno is of the opinion that the purpose is to stress Israel's merit in that they followed the Almighty in the uninhabited wilderness.  Whatever the reason for the enumeration of the place names, the fact is that the places were but stages on the journey to the Holy Land which was their destination.

Israel's journeys  in the desert were paralleled by events in later Jewish History.  For many centuries, the Jewish people wandered in the "wilderness of  the peoples".   (Ezekiel 20:35)

In a wider sense, the whole of life from birth to death is often thought of as a journey; and its various ups and downs are landing stages in life's journey through this world.  
The sidra suggests the thought that one should not make one's life a meaningless wandering from stage to stage, each stage should rather be a step of progress towards higher spirituality and nobler living.   People often wander around aimlessly in a wilderness of their own making.   As one gains in age and experience, so should one advance in knowledge and understanding, in qualities of character, and in the attainment of the Torah's goals for life.

Of Israels journeyings in the wilderness the Torah says: "According to the commandment of the G-d they encamped, and according to the commandment of G-d they journeyed."  (Numbers 9:20)   The thought that G-d is a guide at every stage of life is very comforting.  It adds joy to the living, and it is a marvelous source of strength in whatever experience life yields.