In I Corinthians 11, the head covering Paul requires is a woman's hair, not a hat or veil. He grounds the matter in the chain of authority: God, Christ, man, woman. Long hair on a woman is the symbol of her submission to the man's authority, and it renders glory to her husband. Paul confirms this by asking whether nature itself does not teach that long hair dishonors a man but is a glory to a woman, since her hair is given to her for a covering (verses 14-15). A woman who prays or prophesies with hair cut short like a man's dishonors her head and is as shameful as one with a shaved head, like a fallen woman. Men should wear short hair, because long hair would dishonor their God-given position of leadership. The only biblical exception is the Nazirite, who let his hair grow as a sign of submission to God (Numbers 6:5). Scripture specifies long hair, not uncut hair. Shorn hair means closely clipped, mannish hair, not merely trimmed hair. A woman's hair should be long enough, well groomed, and styled to enhance her femininity. Men must not follow fads that make their hair like a woman's. God wants a clear distinction between the sexes in grooming and dress (Deuteronomy 22:5), and hair length is a most important line of that distinction. This applies at all times, not only in church services, and honors God and the chain of authority He established.

Hair is an external indicator of what is in the heart, and God cares about outward appearance because the outside reveals the inside. Scripture contains over one hundred references to hair. In Leviticus 13 hair signals physical health, and the priest judged it as health inspector, which teaches that hair, especially its length, can reflect one's inward spiritual state. Absalom's heavy hair expressed his vanity, and Nebuchadnezzar's eagle-feather hair expressed the wildness of his proud heart. Peter and Paul do not condemn well-set hair but extreme styles that display vanity or draw attention to sexuality. Priests were to neither shave their heads nor let their locks grow long, but to cut their hair. Imposed baldness is a mark of shame, and pagan mourning styles meant to draw attention are forbidden. I Corinthians 11 teaches hair length, not style: a woman's hair must be long and a man's short. This rests on God's created order and the distinct governmental roles of male and female, with Christ as the man's head and the man as the woman's. Hair length is a visible sign of submission to God's government and of being circumcised in heart, much as the Sabbath is a sign. The Greek katakalupto means something hanging down, so hair hanging down is too long for a man and hair that does not hang down is too short for a woman. A veil is needed only when a woman's hair has been cut too short. A woman's hair should fall toward the shoulders and cover the back of the neck, though it need not never be cut, while a man's should not cover the neck, nor be deliberately bald like the pagan Egyptians. Christ had short hair. The Nazirite's long hair signified a voluntary vow of submission to God, and he could not approach the Temple until it was cut.