Isaiah 25:7

the face of the covering … nations More literally: the surface of the veil that veils all the peoples, and the covering that is woven over all the nations. The phrase "surface of the veil" is peculiar, but a similar expression is found in Job 41:13. It is probably to be explained as gen. of apposition "the veil-surface." The veil is not, as might be supposed, a symbol of spiritual blindness (2 Corinthians 3:14 ff.), but of sorrow; the figure being taken from the practice of covering the head in token of mourning (see 2 Samuel 15:30; 2 Samuel 19:4; Jeremiah 14:3-4; Esther 6:12). The prophet has already spoken of the profound wretchedness in which the world is plunged (ch. Isaiah 24:7-12).