The apostle is not instructing his readers to be subject to, say, canine creatures, for that would contradict God’s word in Genesis 1:26–27 where the Lord told man to have “dominion over” all creatures. His readers need instead to voluntarily place themselves under human creations/creatures. As “sojourners and exiles” in their community, they cannot expect to be top of the ladder; they need instead to accept their place within (and so under; not outside or above) “every human institution.”