Ezekiel 1:10-11

The forward face on each creature looked like a man, another like a lion, another like a bull, and the fourth like an eagle (cf. Revelation 4:7). These were traditionally the four most impressive animals, man being the chief over all, the lion chief of the wild animals, the ox chief of the domesticated animals, and the eagle chief of the birds. [Note: Stuart, p. 32.] Their faces may represent the intelligence, majesty (or strength), strength (or ferocity), and speed (or freedom) of these creatures. Their wings spread out above them, evidently to support the platform above (Ezekiel 1:22-23). Another view is that the cherubim were the wheels in the sense that the life spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. [Note: Merrill, p. 368.] Two wings of each creature touched the wings of another of the creatures uniting them in action, and two of them covered the bodies of each creature, probably demonstrating humility.

The church fathers connected the lion with Matthew, the ox with Mark, the man with Luke, and the eagle with John. They believed that these writers stressed a prominent characteristic of Jesus Christ represented by each of these creatures in their Gospels, namely, royalty, service, humanity, and godlikeness.