Page 88 - Foundations

of cherubs on the Internet you would be met with an abundance of illustrations of winged babies.
Such is the vanity of human thought. The Bible conveys an altogether different image of a cherub.
Cherubim were magnificent winged beings of an angelic order who were possessors of great power,
wisdom, and beauty. When Yahweh spoke to Moses and gave him instructions to build the tabernacle
in the wilderness, along with all of its furnishings, He spoke to Moses in this way.

Exodus 25:8-22
And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am
going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you
shall construct it. And they shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one
and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside
and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it... And you shall make a
mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. And you shall
make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. And
make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one
piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. And the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward,
covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to
be turned toward the mercy seat. And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark
you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you. And there I will meet with you; and from above
the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will
speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

The apostle Paul gives us this further insight into the archetype that served as the pattern for all that
Moses was shown.

Hebrews 8:4-6
Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts
according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was
warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "See," He says, "that you make
all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain."

Those things that Moses was instructed to build were patterned after heavenly things. In the heavens
there are living cherubim. In the pattern Moses was shown, the presence of Yahweh appeared
“between the two cherubim.” It was from this position that Yahweh would communicate to His
creation. We can infer from this that in the heavens Yahweh also is flanked by covering cherubim.
It is here that He chooses to manifest His glory and to make known His will in the heavens.

When David was later given the pattern for the temple that his son Solomon would build, angels and
cherubim were infused throughout the design. In the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies where
the Ark of the Covenant was kept, two magnificent cherubim were constructed to tower over it.

I Kings 6:23-33
Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. And five
cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of
one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits; both the