Now let us briefly consider first the meaning of this verse within the proper context, that concerns the restoration of Israel, who is often portrayed as a young woman –like the bride in the Shir HaShirim, and also as the wife or the daughter in the Prophets–. Here this announcement is preceded by a call to repentance:

How long will you hide, O backsliding daughter? For HaShem hath created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.
(Jeremiah 31:22)

The Prophet is dealing with the New Covenant that HaShem will seal with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, and the daughter represents Israel that comes back from exile, the gathering of the Northern Tribes that having departed from their Elohim and still not returned back to Him, will join the House of Judah (the present-day Israel, that has kept the Covenant) and be again one people in the Land of Israel and in Jerusalem their eternal city. Their redemption takes place as the bride comes back to her Husband and “encompasses” Him, not leaving Him to be away from her anymore. It is Israel that comes back to HaShem and becomes His Temple, holding His Presence within the people.

Yet, in this essay we are not specifically concerned with Israel but with the woman in the Messianic Age. The announcement “For HaShem hath created a new thing in the earth: a female shall encompass/surround/encircle/besiege a mighty man” sounds as a reversal of roles, so that in some versions it is translated “a woman shall court a man”, or even “a woman shall passionately love a man”. While such renditions might be also acceptable, they imply an actual turnabout of the historical situation and may mislead to think that the present social rights that women in the West are reaching may be a partial accomplishment of this prophecy, but it is not. The Scriptural statement goes beyond these achievements, it is a complete restoration of the original status.
The “new” thing that HaShem has created is a renewal of the origins, in the same way as the New Covenant is a renewal of the existing one, a complete restoration. In this prophecy, the woman is again the ezer k’negdo, the suitable helper, the tzela, the bearing wall, the one who is equal and opposite, the perfect counterpart. The mighty man, that represents power, dominion, government, is now “besieged, encircled, encompassed” by his feminine partner, she is now even his protection. She represents the household in which the man lives in peace, as the woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31, “A woman of valour who can find? for her value is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, and he hath no lack of gain” (Proverbs 31:10-11).
The woman in her restored original position is the man’s shelter, his tabernacle, his physical sanctuary; she is for her man like the Temple is for the people of Israel.