Cherubim are in the highest ranking of the nine orders of angels and are part of the theme in the Divine Liturgy’s Cherubic Hymn. According to the Old Testament, Cherubim attend God for the purpose of guarding His presence from profanity and blasphemies. After Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, God set Cherubim to guard access back into the garden (Gen. 1:24).
In the context of Christian angelology (the study of angels), Cherubim and Seraphim are usually grouped together even though they were missing from the angelic lists based on St. Paul’s letters to the Ephesians (1:21) and Colossians (1:16).
