And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Over it - over "the ark of the covenant."
Cherubim - representing the ruling powers by which God acts in the moral and natural world (note, Ezekiel 1:6; Ezekiel 10:1): sometimes the ministering angels; mostly the elect redeemed, by whom God shall rule the world and set forth His manifold wisdom: redeemed humanity, combining in and with itself the highest forms of subordinate creaturely life They stand on the mercy-seat, and on that ground become the habitation of God, from which His glory is to shine upon the world. They expressly say, Revelation 5:8-10, "Thou ... hast redeemed us:" there distinguished from the angels, and associated with the elders. They were of one piece with the mercy-seat, even as the Church is one with Christ: their sole standing is on the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat; they gaze down at it as the redeemed shall forever; the "habitation of God through the Spirit."
Of glory. The cherubim were bearers of the divine glory (the "chariot of the cherubims," 1 Chronicles 28:18; Psalms 68:17; Ezekiel 1:1); whence, perhaps, they derive their name [from raakab (H7392), to carry: by transposition]. The Shechinah cloud of glory between the cherubim over the mercy-seat, the lid of the ark, represented Yahweh. The twelve loaves of showbread represent the twelve tribes, presented as a consecrated community before God; Just as in the Lord's supper believers, the spiritual Israel, all partaking of the one spiritual bread, and becoming one bread and one body in Christ, present themselves before the Lord as consecrated to Him (1 Corinthians 10:16-17); the oil and light, the pure knowledge of the Lord, in which the covenant people shine (the seven (lights) implying perfection); the ark of the covenant, God's Old Testament kingdom, God dwelling among His own; the ten commandments in the ark, the law as the basis of union between God and man; the mercy-seat covering the law, and sprinkled with the blood of atonement for the people's collective sin, represents Gods mercy in Christ stronger than the law; the cherubim, the redeemed creation personified, looking down on the mercy-seat, where God's mercy and God's law are set forth as the basis of creation and redemption.
Mercyseat, х hilasteerion (G2435)] - 'the propitiatory;' the golden cover of the ark, on which was sprinkled the blood of the propitiatory sacrifice on the day of atonement; the footstool of Yahweh; the meeting-place of Him and His people.
We cannot - conveniently. Besides what met the eye in the sanctuary, there were spiritual realities symbolized which it would take too long to detail, our chief subject being the priesthood and the sacrifices. "Which" refers not merely to the cherubim, but to all the contents of the sanctuary (Hebrews 9:2-5).