These seem to be analogous to the cherubim which were woven into the curtains of the tabernacle (Exod. 36:35), and especially to the protecting cherubim over the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place, which was also forbidden to sinful man. And the cherubim of both Eden and the tabernacle recall the living creatures surrounding the throne of God in heaven (Rev. 4:6–9). But an even more important key is to be found in the identification of heaven with the garden of Eden in the book of Revelation.