‘And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days.'
This verse is put in as a quick note to explain the final effect for the woman of what happens to her son. It is amplified in more detail in Revelation 12:13-17.
The fleeing into the wilderness is similar to the ‘flee into the mountains' of Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:21, advice from Jesus of what those in Judea should do when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20) and the desolating abomination is set up (the image of the Emperor of Rome on the standards of the legions). John speaks with an awareness that at that time the people of God did flee over the Jordan into the wilderness country (by this time the Jewish remnant of old is recognised as being found in the churches of Jerusalem, Judea and Galilee).
According to Eusebius the Jerusalem church fled to Pella beyond the Jordan, and many Jewish Christians in Judea and Galilee no doubt fled into the surrounding wilderness for safety under persecution from the local would be ‘Messiahs' who sprang up and demanded a following, as well as seeking safety in the light of the Roman response to those Messiahs.
But John is concerned also with the symbolism of the wilderness, namely that it signified a time of testing and purifying (1 Kings 19:4; 1 Kings 19:15; Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1). The connection with Elijah is especially important as it explains the mention of the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is three and a half years, for the idea of three and a half years is closely linked with Elijah as a God-appointed period in which he sought a place of refuge from the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel in places prepared by God, commencing in the wilderness (1 Kings 17:1 with Revelation 18:1; Revelation 17:3; Revelation 17:9; compare Luke 4:25; James 5:17).
John has a habit of taking incidents in the life of Elijah and giving them new meaning Compare the seven thousand killed in the earthquake (Revelation 11:13) in contrast with the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). The false fire that comes down from Heaven (Revelation 13:13) representing an imitation Elijah. The fact that the two witnesses can prevent rain from Heaven (Revelation 11:6). So he sees a similarity between Elijah fleeing into the wilderness from the wrath of the king, and being sustained there by God, and the fleeing into the wilderness of the people of God where they too will be sustained. They are the new remnant.
Three and a half years is symbolic of a period of testing and trial. We must not assume that every mention of three and a half years refers to the same period of time. The lack of rain under Elijah was recognised as lasting for three and a half years. Thus this period became a symbol of a period of trial and tribulation.