Psalm 99:1
"When God will reveal His kingship,
the nations will tremble;
The earth will quake upon Him
who is enthroned upon the cherubim."
Moses wrote this psalm in foreknowledge of a time just before the redemption. It mentions the world shaking in awe before God who is enthroned upon the Cherubim (“Keruvim” in Hebrew).
So what are Keruvim?
We read about them in Exodus, as the Children of Israel, a population of more than a million souls, dwells in the desert. Their very life is sustained by miracle. They eat Manna which falls from heaven each morning. The water they drink springs forth miraculously. They do not know whether they will camp for a day or a year but they follow God's miraculous guidance each and every day.
Then God gives special directions about building a Mishkan, or Sanctuary, in the desert. As part of the directions, God instructs the Children of Israel to hammer out, from a single piece of gold, two Cherubim as part of a cover for the Ark which will protect the Ten Commandments. Cherubim were also embroidered on the curtains that formed the ceiling of the Sanctuary in which Hashem's presence dwelled. Ezekiel, in his dream, (Ezekiel 10) saw above the Cherubim something like a sapphire stone the appearance of a throne. (The Ten Commandments and the staff of Moses, on which the 12 tribes of Israel were engraved, were both made of sapphire stone.)
Great sages throughout the centuries have explained the meaning of the Cherubim. They have come to signify the pure love of a child, brotherly love, male and female love, and the love of the people of Israel, among other descriptions. They are also guardians on the pathway to the Tree of Knowledge so that Adam and Eve do not return to the Garden of Eden. They carry swords of fire that swing back and forth blocking the way. This could also be a statement of love as a guardian or protector.
The Cherubim have many forms and attributes. Perhaps we can better understand them by seeing where God placed them and what task He gave them. For, like all beings created by God, they are serving Him in some way.
We know that the Cherubim guarded the Garden of Eden, the Sanctuary in the desert and the Tablets of the Ten Commandments.
The Garden of Eden marks the transition of mankind from a supernal to an earthy existence. The Sanctuary in the desert marks the transition of the Children of Israel from slaves to a free nation guided to the Holy Land by God's presence. The Ten Commandments marks the transition from a world where cruelty was commonplace and acceptable to a world where peace, justice and Godliness are possible. In Psalm 99, Moses describes the Cherubim as an integral part of the redemption of mankind, which marks the transition to a world where war and disease will no longer exist.”
In all these examples, the Cherubim are protecting something very important to God and that protection has something to do with love.
Whether it is the Garden of Eden, the Sanctuary, the Ten Commandments, or the time when God’s kingship will reign; the power of love was chosen by God to protect His most precious gifts to mankind.
Is it possible that the love is more important than we imagine?”
(excerpt from "Software for the Soul: Psalms for Everyone - discovering the inner meanings" Click Here for the link)