Throughout the OT, the "head" of the tribe or household is the man. This isn't presented as a result of the curse, but as the way God interacts with humanity (e.g., the Covenants with Noah, Abraham, and David). The physical, outward sign of belonging to God’s covenant people was circumcision. In Genesis 17, God formalized the "House of the Father" (Bet Ab) model by placing the covenant sign specifically on the male.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” 9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” 15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
Because of biology, it was physically impossible to circumcise a woman. However, this did not mean women were "outside" the covenant. Instead, the Old Testament operated on Representative Headship. A woman’s inclusion in the promises was mediated through the male head of her house—first her father, then her husband. This wasn't about "superiority," but about the male serving as a sacrificial representative for the whole family, much like a census counted "heads" to represent entire households (Numbers 1:2).
It is vital to note that salvation itself was never mediated by the husband, nor was anyone saved by the physical sign of circumcision. Justification in the Old Testament was always by faith alone. The physical sign was merely a seal of the promises, meaning a woman's salvation rested entirely on her own personal faith in God, exactly as a man's did.
The reason circumcision was exclusively male was prophetic. It was the "Sign of the Seed.
- The Promise: The Old Testament looked forward to the ultimate fulfillment of the protoevangelium—the first gospel promise that the "seed" of the woman would crush the serpent's head, though his heel would be bruised (Gen 3:15). God promised to multiply Abraham’s descendants and bless the world through his "seed" (Gen 17:7, Gal 3:16).
- The Symbol: By marking the reproductive organ, God signifies that the lineage leading to the Messiah was consecrated. This promised Seed was the male Messiah, Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16).
- The Malediction: It carried a symbolic warning: the covenant-breaker would be "cut off" (Gen 17:14), pointing to the "cutting off" the Messiah would eventually endure on the cross to pay for our sins (Col 2:11).
Circumcision was a "placeholder." Because the covenant promises fundamentally rested on the coming of a male Savior who would bear the curse of the covenant for His people, the anticipatory sign of that Seed was restricted to males. The husband represented the family's standing. Christ arrived and became the Head of the Church. Just as the circumcised head represented the household in the shadow, the husband is called to represent the sacrificial headship of Christ in the reality.
Once the promised Seed arrived and fulfilled the covenant of works, the bloody, forward-looking sign of circumcision was replaced by the water sign of baptism (Col 2:11-12). See verses for the proof here (Baptism and Circumcision 1) Baptism signifies and seals cleansing from sin and union with Christ (Col 2:11-12, Acts 2:38). Because the promised Seed had come, the sign was no longer restricted to males anticipating a future descendant. Instead, baptism is radically inclusive, administered to both men and women (Acts 8:12). Through baptism, females receive the exact same "sonship status" and inheritance rights as males.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
It is vital to recognize that while the ritual changed to reflect our equal salvation, the structural order of the family was not abolished. The move from circumcision to baptism signifies that women are co-heirs of grace (1 Pet 3:7), but it does not remove the husband's role as head. The ritual depended on the structure (the Bet Ab), but the ritual itself was not the structure. Therefore, when the sign moved from "male-only" to "everyone," it signaled a change in status before God, not a dissolution of order within the home. I like to look at the example of the Orthodox Wedding Service (The Crowning), the husband is still called the "head," but the "crown" he wears is a crown of martyrdom. He is the head because he is called to be the first to die for his family, just as Christ (the Head) died for the Church (Ephesians 5:23-25).