Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 25:18

"And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat." — Exodus 25:18 (ASV)

Two cherubims. — “Cherubims,” or rather cherubim, had been known previously in only one connection — they had been the guardians of Eden when Adam and Eve were driven out from it (Genesis 3:24). It is generally agreed that in that passage, as in most others where the word occurs, living beings, angels of God, are intended. But not all angels are cherubim. The cherubim constitute a select class, very near to God, very powerful, very resolute, highly fitted to act as guards. It is probably with this special reference that the cherubic figures were selected to be placed upon the mercy seat — they guarded the precious deposit of the two tables, towards which they looked (Exodus 25:20).

The question regarding the exact form of the figures is not very important, but it is one which has been discussed with great ingenuity and at great length. Some hold that the proper figure of a cherub is that of a bull or ox, and think that the cherubim of the tabernacle were winged bulls, not unlike the Assyrian. Others regard them as figures even more composite, like the Egyptian sphinxes or the chimeras of the Greeks. But the predominant opinion seems to be that they were simply human figures with the addition of a pair of wings. (So Kaiisch, Keil, Bishop Harold Browne, Canon Cook, and others.) In this case they would bear a considerable resemblance to the figures of Ma, or Truth, so often seen inside Egyptian arks, sheltering with their wings the scarabaeus or some other emblem of deity.

Of beaten work — that is, not cast, but brought into shape by the hammer. In the Egyptian language karabu meant “to hammer,” from which, according to some, the word “cherub” is derived.

In the two ends. — Literally, from the two ends — rising, that is, from either end of the mercy seat.