What does Ephesians 5 teach wives about submitting to their husbands?

Ephesians 5 instructs wives to submit themselves to their own husbands as unto the Lord. This follows the call for believers to submit one to another in the fear, reverence, or awe of God. It is set within the husband-and-wife analogy correlated with Christ as the Head and the Body of Christ.

Les explains that Ephesians is a deep book that must be plumbed. In chapter 5, the Apostle writes about the human husband and wife relationship as a correlation with Christ as the Head, or the husband, and the Body of Christ, the composite of church-age believers. At verse 21 he writes, 'submitting yourselves one to another in the fear, or the reverence, or the awe of God,' and then, 'Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.' Les notes that some ladies may raise their hackles and object with a belief in equality between the sexes, and he says that is all well and good, yet the text still calls wives to submit to their own husbands as unto the Lord.

Ephesians 5:21

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:22

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

What does the marriage relationship in Ephesians 5 illustrate about our relationship with Christ?

The marriage relationship in Ephesians 5 illustrates the spiritual union between Christ and the Church. As husband and wife are joined, believers are united with Christ; Christ is the head of the Church, and He died and suffered for its members, just as a husband should be ready to die for his wife.