It is a symbol of authority.
10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
The word power contains as its basic meaning “authority.” The woman ought to have authority on her head. This authority may look in two directions. It may look to her own, that is, that it gives her the right to come into the presence of God. It may look to the authority that the veil recognizes in the order God has set up, in which man is her head. Thus the veil not only applies to the women but also applies to the men of the congregation in that it urges them to assume the place that is theirs in the divine order. By the very fact that we men urge the observance of this teaching, we are saying that we accept the responsibility that is set forth. Therefore we ought willingly to take the place in the divine order that the veil symbolizes, whether man or woman.
With regard to “angels” in this verse, one can learn the attitude of angels by reading Isaiah 6. In the experience of Isaiah in the temple, he saw the cherubim covering themselves in the presence of God. Since the angels cover themselves in the presence of God, Paul taught, that women should follow the example of the angels.
The veil and insubordination cannot go together. The significance of the veil may be summarized in this way: It symbolizes sanctification; it symbolizes a proper submission; it symbolizes authority. These constitute the second reason the veil should be worn.
Third, there are:
It is more than a Corinthian custom.
16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
The veil is not a generalization. It is not an idea that one can take or leave. Verse 16 would clearly indicate that it is a teaching of universal intention. The custom here referred to must be the custom of unveiled women. Paul, being led by the Holy Spirit, would not have been so foolish as to have set forth the teaching of the veiling and then with one stroke have brushed it all aside. Indeed, if one takes it simply from the historical and cultural situation in which the apostle Paul lived, then he would understand that women with the hair cut advertised themselves as being harlots of the town. Certainly, the apostle would not argue that if you want to dispute the question with me, we will forget the whole thing.
If you will note again the verses cited in the introduction 1:2; 4:17; and 7:17 it will be reasonably clear that Paul was consciously writing for a larger audience than the church in Corinth. One learns from the history of the early believers that they believed the veil was to be worn. In the catacombs of Rome, one scholar reports the women are pictured with a close-fitting head-dress and the men have short hair.
Many present-day denominations in times past practiced a covering for women. And this covering was not a protective covering. There are only a few who still preserve the veiling of Christian women with a specific and particular veil as taught in I Corinthians 11.
It is more than a public observance.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5 But every woman that prayeth and prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
Here we differ among ourselves. Some teach that the veil is only for public worship. The passage, however, speaks of praying or prophesying. The discussion itself focuses on the exercise of prayer. Is praye...
