When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, his face glowed and he wore a veil over his face to hide the glory of it from the Israelites. I was taught that this was a purely pragmatic act, that he had absorbed so much of God’s glory that nobody could withstand it. I don’t think that’s true. When he was about God’s business–for example, when he spoke the Torah to the assembled Israelites and when he was in the tent communing directly with God–he removed the veil. When he was about more mundane business–for example, judging legal cases and performing administrative duties in the camp–he wore the veil. The key distinction is not whether or not the person in front of him could stand to look at him, but whether or not it was appropriate to display directly God’s glory.
I think it was important that he did not appear to be speaking for God at every waking moment. He wasn’t Pharaoh’s replacement god; he was an emissary for that replacement. He had to hide his face so that the Israelites would not be tempted to worship him or to take every word as divine law. Removing the veil was like the pope speaking ex cathedra. He removed the veil when he read God’s Law, because he wanted Israel to see God speaking.
After studying the biblical mentions of veils and the like, I’ve concluded that coverings in general are emblems of authority, protection, and separation. There are several different kinds of coverings talked about in scripture: headcoverings, veils, mantles (or stoles), robes of state, wraps, hangings, bedding, and shadows.
I think that headcoverings and mantles are two sides of the same coin. How the covering is worn or used advertises the bearer’s relationship to the authority. Worn on the head, they indicate submission to the authority of someone else over the wearer. One who is under authority is obligated to obey, but is entitled to protection and provision. To a certain extent, he shares in the power of that authority. Worn on the shoulders, a covering represent the authority carried by the wearer. Think of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. One who carries authority is responsible for its exercise and for the protection and provision of its subjects. Paul’s argument regarding the wearing of headcoverings in worship helps to clarify this principle that the Torah and the prophets only alluded to.
Some examples of coverings representing the bearing of authority:
- Elijah was a chief prophet and the headmaster of a school. He wore a mantle on his shoulders as a badge of office and passed it on to his successor, Elisha.
- The High Priest wore an onyx stone bearing the names six of the twelve tribes on each of his shoulders. They represented his right to judge the nation on spiritual matters, while he wore a gold plate with twelve different precious stones over his heart to represent his obligation to judge with love and mercy.
- Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors. Immediately after that, Joseph dreamed that all of Israel would someday bow to him. I don’t think that Jacob meant for Joseph’s coat to represent anything except his affection, but God had other plans. Think of the twelve differently colored stones on the High Priests breastplate. How much do you want to bet that there were exactly twelve different colors on Joseph’s coat?
Some examples of coverings representing submission to authority or protection:
- Ruth covered herself with a corner of Boaz’s tallit as a subtle marriage proposal.
- Boaz told Ruth to remove her veil–something that should only be done by someone in authority: a husband or father, for instance–so that he could fill it with barley. He was replying in the affirmative to her proposal.
- Paul argued that a woman who prays or prophecies without a headcovering dishonors her husband.
- Headcoverings were frequently used to hide shame or sorrow, a response which I believe to be very closely related to submission.
- The Hebrew word for “pitch” in the story of Noah’s ark literally means “covering.” The same word is also translated “bribe” or “ransom.”
- After God threatened Abimelech’s life for attempting to take a prophet’s wife as his own, Abimelech told Sarah that Abraham was a covering for her.
- In the trial of a wife suspected of adultery, the priest removes her headcovering before subjecting her to the ordeal, symbolizing the removal of her husband’s protection.
Noah’s pitch coated his ark to keep out the floods that destroyed the rest of the world, like Yeshua’s blood that separates us from our world and its eventual fate. Likewise, the Hebrew word translated “mercy seat” in Exodus 25:17 referring to the lid of the Ark of the Covenant actually doesn’t have anything to do with seats, although it does imply mercy. It means “lid” or “cover” and comes from the same root as the word translated as “pitch.” Both coverings protect the contents of a wooden box from something outside. The Ark of the Covenant represents (at least on one level) the heart of a human being. It’s where David said he hid God’s law and where God says he wants to write it in every person. We can’t face God in our natural state directly, but in the Tabernacle, God’s presence hovered above the Ark. The mercy seat represents Yeshua’s role as our High Priest and intermediary with the Father, who sees us through the filter of his son. In this case, Yeshua as our covering takes on almost every aspect symbolized by all the other types of coverings. He hides us from an overwhelming power. He seals our hearts off from the rest of the world. He commands our obedience as we submit to him.
Tamar wore a veil to hide her identity but also to subtly tell Judah that the deaths of his sons weren’t her fault. Her very name means “upright.” The real problem was with Judah’s sons and their mother. Through the entire humiliating ordeal, she remained submitted to authority, and thereby wound up with Judah’s life and power in her hands. She took his staff (a symbol of power and authority) and rings (rings, bracelets, and ear/nose rings are symbols of betrothal and ownership) from him, and returned them in such a way that had he insisted on prosecuting her, he would have forfeited his own life.
Other coverings represent the outpouring of one spirit or another or separation from God or protection from danger or comfort. I could probably write a book on this topic alone. Enough for now, though. I need to incorporate some of this into the current book first.