‘This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings. And the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings, and as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the River Chebar, their appearances and themselves. They went every one straight forward.'
Ezekiel now confirms again that the living creatures he had seen by the River Chebar and the cherubim here are one and the same. Each had four faces and four wings, with the hands of a man beneath their wings, with the same facial likenesses as at the River Chebar, a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. Where then has the face of the cherub (Ezekiel 10:14) gone? We must remember that we are in vision where things can keep changing rapidly. The face of the cherub was there at the crucial time when Yahweh was departing His house. It was not as representatives of creation but as the holy cherubim that they were responsible for this move. This brings out the awesomeness, the earth shattering nature of the change which took place. It was a change determined in heaven. Once that was fulfilled the cherubim could return to their normal function as representatives of creation and normal life could go on where they were going.
‘They went every one straight forward.' The description finishes with the indication that their forward progress continued. Nothing could stop it. It was inexorable.