Hebrews 9:5

“And over it the cherubim of glory, etc..] Or “glorious cherubim”, where the Shechinah, or divine glory, dwelt, (<198001>Psalm 80:1). These were over the ark, and were in number two, as were the cherubim which God placed at the garden of Eden, (<010324>Genesis 3:24) according to the opinion of the ancient Jews f164; and very likely these were made after the form of them. Some have thought them to be birds of a very terrible aspect, which were set there to deter Adam and Eve from coming to the tree of life; and both Philo f165 and Josephus f166 say, they were winged fowls; but the generality of the Jewish writers take them for angels f167; and some of them say they were destroying angels, or…”

“over it--over "the ark of the covenant." cherubim--representing the ruling powers by which God acts in the moral and natural world. (See on Eze 1:6; Eze 10:1). Hence sometimes they answer to the ministering angels; but mostly to the elect redeemed, by whom God shall hereafter rule the world and set forth His manifold wisdom: redeemed humanity, combining in, and with itself, the highest forms of subordinate creaturely life; not angels. They stand on the mercy seat, and on that ground become the habitation of God, from which His glory is to shine upon the world. They expressly say, Rev 5:8-10, "Thou hast redeemed us." They are there distinguished from the angels, and associated with the…”

“And over it - That is, over the ark. The cherubim of glory - A Hebrew mode of expression, meaning “the glorious cherubim.” The word “cherubim” is the Hebrew form of the plural, of which cherub is the singular. The word “glory” used here in connection with “cherubim,” refers to the splendor, or magnificence of the image, as being carved with great skill, and covered with gold. There were two cherubim on the ark, placed on the lid in such a manner that their faces looked inward toward each other, and downward toward the mercy-seat. They stretched out their wings “on high,” and covered the mercy-seat, or the lid of the ark; Exodus 25:18-20; compare 1 Kings 8:6-7; 1 Chronicles 28:18. In the…”

“And over it were the cherubim of glory - Over which the glory of God used to appear. Some suppose each of these had four faces, and so represented the Three - One God, with the manhood assumed by the Second Person. With out - spread wings shadowing the mercy - seat - Which was a lid or plate of gold, covering the ark. Hebrews 9:6”

“9:5 The cherubim of divine glory were statues of angels formed into the Ark’s cover. This category of angels is especially associated with God’s glorious presence (Gen 3:24; Pss 80:1; 99:1; Isa 37:16). The Ark’s cover itself was the place of atonement, on which the blood from the Day of Atonement sacrifice was to be sprinkled (Lev 16:14-16). • But we cannot explain these things in detail now: The main focus of the discussion is the offering of sacrifices under the old covenant (Heb 9:6-10).”

“over: Exo 25:17-22, Exo 37:6-9; Lev 16:2; Num 7:89; Sa1 4:4; Kg1 8:6, Kg1 8:7; Kg2 19:15; Psa 80:1, Psa 99:1; Eph 3:10; Pe1 1:12 the mercyseat: Heb 4:16; Lev 16:2, Lev 16:13; Ch1 28:11 Hebrews 9:6”