“... a bowshot away ...” (Genesis 21:16)

In a chapter she contributed to the book Hagar, Sarah, and their Children: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives, the well-known, feminist exegete Phyllis Trible says

The reference to a "bowshot" hints at Ishmael’s future.

Therefore, the reference is not as ominous as I thought. Read selections from her book online.

Sarna’s commentary on Genesis reminds us that “The tradition that the Ishmaelites were professional marksmen is preserved in Isaiah 21:17¹, which speaks of the bows of Kedar’s warriors. Kedar is a son of Ishmael in the list of Genesis 25:13.”

The Jewish Study Bible notes on Genesis 21:12 that

it is Sarah’s protection of Isaac’s rights, rather than Abraham’s solicitude for Ishmael, that mediates God’s will in this tragic situation.

In the Talmud, this is cited as evidence that Sarah was a prophet. God's command to Abraham to do as she says uses the same term with which He rebuked Adam for obeying Eve in 3.17 – only with the opposite intent.

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¹ And I read Isaiah 21 just the other night for the Isaiah study!