What do Angels Look Like? (2 of 2)

Cherub

(Continued from yesterday)

Third, notwithstanding their normally manifesting as men, some ranks have a very unusual appearance e.g. cherubim and seraphim. Cherubim do not look like chubby infants with little wings in Renaissance art. Ezekiel 1 gives a description of four strange-looking living beings, which Ezk 10:15, 20 identified as cherubim.

• Ezk 1:5-11 Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.

Wheel intersecting a wheel

• Ezk 10:12 Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.

How big or tall or they? I don’t know whether the statues were life-size, but the cherubim inside the inner sanctuary of the temple were 10 cubits tall, with a wingspan of 10 cubits:
• 1 Kings 6:23-24 Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. (See also 6:25-26; 2 Chron 3:11-13)
A cubit is 18 inches, so they were 15 ft (4.6 m) tall and 15 ft. wide with outstretched wings. That’s huge!

Seraph

Isaiah saw seraphim in a vision who looked as follows:
• Isa 6:2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

As such their appearance must be frightening or terrifying if they appear all of a sudden. Hope this helps.