A Woman Should Have A Covering?

Q. I Corinthians 11:10 says a woman should have a covering on her head “because of the angels.” What do the angels have to do with it?

A. I Corinthians 11 is a message about submission. It deals with hair length. Men are to have short hair; women are to have long hair. I’m one of those people who don’t need to know why. Not everyone is. Some people are inquiring and need to know why God wants it that way. Fortunately, God provides an answer.

Symbols are important to God’s work. The children of Israel drank water in the wilderness, and Rock from which it flowed was Christ. That is a powerful symbol. An even clearer symbol was the Lord’s use of the slain Passover lamb to symbolize the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.

In the New Testament, there are symbolic ordinances that God expects us to keep. These include water baptism, which symbolizes separation from an old, sinful lifestyle, and communion, which symbolizes the body of Christ that was broken and His sinless blood that redeems us. We cannot ignore water baptism and communion just because they are symbolic. We keep these ordinances.

Hair length is a symbol, too! “The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” I Corinthians 11:3. Short hair on men symbolizes their submission to the unseen Christ. Verse 4, 7. Long hair on women, verses 5-6, symbolizes their submission to their visible head, man. Verses 7-9. The center column reference on verse 10 says that women are to have long har as a “sign of authority.”

It is clear from the context of verses 13-15 that Paul was writing about hair and not a veil or cloth covering. He said nature itself teaches that women should have long hair. Verses 14-15. Some deny that; but nature taught it in Paul’s day. Only prostitutes and slave women had short hair in that time. Just because the nature of society changes to embrace more wickedness does not mean that we can reject the Bible’s message. Paul also wrote that nature teaches against homosexuality in Romans 1:26. If modern society embraces a different nature, homosexuality would still be wrong.

Long hair on women is a glory – it reflects glory to God. It says, “Here is a woman who submits to godly authority.” We not only glorify God with our lips, but we glorify God in our lifestyles too. In verse 16 of I Corinthians 11, Paul said if anyone wants to argue about this that is too bad. Paul said he was giving body order.

Verse 10 mentions the angels. The holy angels are interested and astounded at salvation. See Ephesians 3:10; I Peter 1:12. They encamp around the believers and deliver them from dangers. Psalms 23:7. No doubt angels study the ordinances and practices of the church. They are present at water baptism – pondering its symbolism. They are present at communion – the blood of Jesus did not cleanse them; but it cleansed sinful humans. Angels even behold the symbolism of hair, and marvel that women, in today’s society, would submit to godly authority.