Great Cherubim
Two olive-wood cherubim covered with gold each stand ten cubits high, with two five-cubit wings. The outer wings touch the walls and the inner wings meet. Their faces look toward the main hall (1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chronicles 3:10–13).
Key points
- The great wings overshadow the ark beneath them (1 Kings 8:6–7).
- Look for: Two standing cherubim with wings spanning the whole inner room, facing its entrance.
- Illustrated location: Most Holy Place
- A reconstruction of Solomon’s First Temple from 1 Kings 6–8 and 2 Chronicles 3–4. Ten lampstands and ten tables follow Chronicles; this is a different building from the Second Temple described by Josephus. The house and inner-room proportions follow Kings. Courts, furnishing spacing, vertical details, and the exposed cutaway are schematic. The upper side-chamber stories are omitted. Smaller furnishings, including the Ark, are enlarged or simplified for visibility. The texts do not specify an exact visual blueprint or the forms of the cherubim. Pillar heights and the Sea’s capacity differ between Kings and Chronicles; the relevant landmark notes preserve those differences. Symmetric rows on both physical sides are one reading of the right/left descriptions. Rashi instead places the lampstands together south and the tables together north, interpreting right/left relative to Moses’ original furnishings. The gilding of all ten tables, altar horns, entrance steps, and exact furniture profiles are inferred display choices, not details stated together in Chronicles. Small service vessels, including the hundred golden basins of 2 Chronicles 4:8, are not individually modeled.
- Earthly worship and the heavenly assembly (Scripture): Exodus places cherubim above the Ark; Isaiah sees seraphim praising God, and Revelation shows worship around the heavenly throne. Liturgical fans and the dome’s Christ Pantocrator image direct attention to this heavenly worship.
- Cherubim and seraphim are distinct biblical descriptions. Modern liturgical fans are an expression of angelic imagery, not the original cherubim of the Ark.
Scripture
- 1 Kings 6 — Two olive-wood cherubim covered with gold each stand ten cubits high, with two five-cubit wings. The outer wings touch the walls and the inner wings meet. Their faces look toward the main hall (1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chronicles 3:10–13).
- 2 Chronicles 3 — Two olive-wood cherubim covered with gold each stand ten cubits high, with two five-cubit wings. The outer wings touch the walls and the inner wings meet. Their faces look toward the main hall (1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chronicles 3:10–13).
- 1 Kings 8:1–30 — Two olive-wood cherubim covered with gold each stand ten cubits high, with two five-cubit wings. The outer wings touch the walls and the inner wings meet. Their faces look toward the main hall (1 Kings 6:23–28; 2 Chronicles 3:10–13).
- Exodus 25:10–40 — Earthly worship and the heavenly assembly: Exodus places cherubim above the Ark; Isaiah sees seraphim praising God, and Revelation shows worship around the heavenly throne. Liturgical fans and the dome’s Christ Pantocrator image direct attention to this heavenly worship.
- Isaiah 6:1–4 — Earthly worship and the heavenly assembly: Exodus places cherubim above the Ark; Isaiah sees seraphim praising God, and Revelation shows worship around the heavenly throne. Liturgical fans and the dome’s Christ Pantocrator image direct attention to this heavenly worship.
- Revelation 4:2–11 — Earthly worship and the heavenly assembly: Exodus places cherubim above the Ark; Isaiah sees seraphim praising God, and Revelation shows worship around the heavenly throne. Liturgical fans and the dome’s Christ Pantocrator image direct attention to this heavenly worship.
- Hebrews 12:22–24 — Earthly worship and the heavenly assembly: Exodus places cherubim above the Ark; Isaiah sees seraphim praising God, and Revelation shows worship around the heavenly throne. Liturgical fans and the dome’s Christ Pantocrator image direct attention to this heavenly worship.