This verse has been used out of context many times.  But to look at it correctly, we must read the verse before it.  In Ephesians 5:21  we are told to submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.  When we are subject to one another,  we take on the heart of a servant…putting the needs of others first.  In that context then, wives are submitting or placing in an orderly fashion the family unit…with all parties acting in the interest of another.