1 Corinthians 11.3 and 11.10

In the church the women ought to be subject to the men. "I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11.3). God has arranged to have the men represent Christ as authority and the women represent the church in subjection. Therefore, the women ought to have a veil (Greek: authority) on their heads because of the angels (1 Cor. 11.10), and they should be subject to their own husbands.

It need not be a physical veil, but is a veil of humility.

Due to the fact that Eve fell in the same principle as Satan had fallen, God so ordains that woman should "have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels" (1 Cor. 11.10). This sign will serve as a testimony before the angels to let them see that we today no longer do what Eve did on that day. Naturally, many sisters find this hard to accept. It thus becomes a real test to the sisters. Yet if the flesh is willing to be judged, this should constitute no problem. In the Garden of Eden, the woman did not stand in her proper place; but now, in the church, the sisters ought to take their proper place.

As regards head covering, let me say again that it is highly profitable. In the meeting, sisters should have their heads covered. They should have on themselves the sign of submission to authority—for the sake of the angels. And the authority here, in the original, points to positional authority. Why is it so? Because Satan is also an angel. His "self" demonstrated the first sin, and it was the cause of his fall. His self rose up to resist God and to overthrow His authority. The most marvelous thing in the universe is authority. We ought to know the importance of God’s authority. He uses His word to hold together all things. Even the name of Christ is full of authority. God put Satan under His authority, yet Satan tried to overturn God’s authority. The great dragon mentioned in Revelation 12—also called the old serpent—drew within his tail the third part of the stars of heaven (v.4), which means that Satan carried one third of the angels in heaven into his rebellion against God’s authority. This is a well-known fact in the universe. This is the story of how sin was first brought into the universe.

The Bible doesn't say a woman should cover her face, but only her head, perhaps with some garment; if not then long hair. And this covering occurs in a meeting, not in day to day affairs. Perhaps she has some work that requires her not to cover her head with a garment.

These small things greatly test our conscience. The first thing is to encourage them to have long hair. If they refuse to have long hair, there is no need to exhort them to cover their heads. For they have already indicated they do not care for the glory which God has given them. A sister has a double covering: one is the natural covering of the hair, the other is the sign of head covering. If the natural covering be overturned, what use will the sign of head covering be to her? Having a sign of covering on her head is something which she must do willingly.

Humility and submitting to authority is that second covering.