Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 6:23

"And in the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten cubits high." — 1 Kings 6:23 (ASV)

Two cherubim - The pattern of the tabernacle was followed, but not as a slavish imitation. The original cherubs were made entirely of gold. These, being much larger, were made of wood and merely overlaid with gold plating. The arrangement of the wings and the direction of the faces also seem to have been different. Moses’s cherubim covered the mercy seat with their wings; Solomon’s stretched theirs out to their full length (1 Kings 6:27), so that the four wings, each five cubits long (1 Kings 6:24), extended across the whole sanctuary, the width of which was twenty cubits (1 Kings 6:20). The former looked toward one another and were bent downward toward the mercy seat; the latter looked outward, toward the main chamber (see 2 Chronicles 3:13 and its note).

Of olive wood - The oleaster or wild olive, not the cultivated species.