Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 12:28

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." — 1 Kings 12:28 (ASV)

The "calves of gold" were likely representations of the cherubic form—imitations of the two cherubim that guarded the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. However, because they were unauthorized copies set up in places God had not chosen and without any divine sanction, the sacred writers call them "calves." They were not merely human figures with wings but had, at the very least, the head of a calf or ox. (For this reason, some attribute this calf-worship entirely to Assyrian and Phoenician influence.)

In setting them up, Jeroboam was likely influenced less by the Apis-worship of Egypt and more by the following factors:

1. A conviction that the Israelites could not be brought to devote themselves to any worship that did not provide them with tangible objects to venerate.
2. The fact that he did not possess any of the old objects of reverence, which had been gathered in Jerusalem.
3. The fact that he could appeal to the authority of a great name like Aaron to justify his "calves."