‘And the cherubim mounted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the River Chebar. And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them, and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood, and when they mounted up these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.'
The description of the cherubim mounting up (see Ezekiel 10:19) immediately leads into an explanation of the fact that they are identifiable with ‘the living creature' of chapter 1, and that their connection with the wheels is inseparable. Both always move together, acting in unison. And this was because the spirit of the living creature was in them. The use of ‘living creature' is here specific, that is why the previous identification was made. Thus the emphasis is on the fact that the whirling wheels share the life of the cherubim.