John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 1:11

"And their faces and their wings were separate above; two [wings] of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies." — Ezekiel 1:11 (ASV)

He says that the faces as well as the wings were extended, because the four faces proceeded from one body. So here, the Prophet says that they are not united together in such a way that a fourfold form could be seen on one head. There was the form of a man, and then that of a lion, just as various forms sometimes appear in one mirror, but each corresponds to its own original.

Similarly, the reader might mistakenly think here that different faces belonged to the same head. Therefore, the Prophet says, they were stretched forth or divided from above. Here he points out a diversity of heads. Regarding the wings, he says they were extended and, at the same time, shows the manner: namely, two were joined or bound together, so that each animal was bound to its neighbor.

The four living creatures were united by their wings; this is what the Prophet means. Regarding the other wings, he says that they covered their bodies, and so we see some likeness between this vision and the one granted to Isaiah, which he relates in Isaiah chapter 6. The reason why the wings were joined together upwards is clear enough: because God has such diverse movements and so agitates the earth, that the things which seem to be conflicting are truly in unison.

The joining, then, was upwards, that is, in relation to God Himself. This is because on earth there often appears terrible confusion, and the works of God, as far as we can understand them, appear to contradict each other. But whoever raises his eyes to heaven will see the greatest harmony between those things that appear to be in opposition below—that is, as long as we remain on earth and in the present state of the world.