This question is based on Isaiah 6:2.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (Isaiah 6:1-2)
This is the only passage in the Bible that mentions seraphim. The word “seraphim” means “fiery ones”. Possibly they covered their faces as an act of humility as they are in the presence of God himself. Similarly, they may have covered their feet as a token of respect.
When we go back to the story of Isaiah and his interaction with the
seraphim, we find the seraphim acting in a unique way to the prophet—they
covered their faces with one set of their three sets of wings: “with two [wings] [the seraph] covered his
face.” It has been said that the
seraphim kept their faces covered by their wings as an act of humility before
God, and although this sounds correct from a sinner’s perspective, it is not
likely to be the case. The seraphim serpents that attacked the
children of Israel in the book of Numbers did not cover their faces when
they went after the Israelites biting their heels in the desert. Rather, the seraphim were described as fiery
biting serpents that pursued those who transgressed God’s Law, because the
seraphim were a symbol of God’s Law.
(Deuteronomy 8:15; Numbers 21:8)
Paul understood that the winged serpent angels were a symbol of the
fulfillment of the Law and that was why he said, “The law was put into
effect through angels (seraphim) by a
mediator (Jesus Christ).” (Galatians
3:19) As symbols of God’s Law, if the faces of the seraphim were exposed in the presence of a
sinner, the faces of the seraphim would kill the sinner, just as they did in
the desert, pursuing the Israelites.
Isaiah saw the seraphim covering their faces with one set of their wings
in order to hide their perfect holiness from him… lest he should die. For that is what the Law of Sin and Death
does to a transgressor; if one is guilty of violating the least little
infraction of the Law, that person is found guilty of breaking the entire Law
and the Law will punish the guilty with death.
To remedy the situation, the seraph that approached Isaiah kept its face
hidden and brought a coal to Isaiah and touched his lips, instantly cleansing
him of all unrighteousness. This is why
no man can look upon the face of God and live: the seraphim-holiness of God is
the vanguard of His glory, consuming sin in fire as if it were chaff,
destroying the flesh in a raging furnace of Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.