Bava Batra 99A

הא קא משמע לן ⁠– למטה כלמעלה; מה למעלה אין משמש כלום, אף למטה אין משמש כלום.

The verse teaches us this: The area below the cherubs is like the area above them; just as the area above the cherubs’ wings, which were spread out in the air, was not used for anything, i.e., it was empty space, so too the area below them was not used for anything and was empty.

מסייע ליה לרבי לוי ⁠– דאמר רבי לוי, ואיתימא רבי יוחנן: דבר זה מסורת בידינו מאבותינו ⁠– מקום ארון וכרובים אינו מן המדה. תניא נמי הכי: ארון שעשה משה, יש לו ריוח עשר אמות לכל רוח ורוח.

This supports the opinion of R' Levi, as R' Levi said, and some say it was R' Yoḥanan who said: This matter is a tradition handed down to us by our ancestors: The space occupied by the Ark of the Covenant and the cherubs is not included in the measurement of the Holy of Holies in which it rested, as miraculously it did not occupy any space at all. The Talmud comments: This is also taught in a baraita: When they brought the Ark that Moses crafted into the Holy of Holies in the Temple of King Solomon, even though the total width of the Holy of Holies was only 20 cubits, nevertheless the Ark had 10 cubits of empty space between it and the wall in each and every direction.

אמר רבנאי אמר שמואל: כרובים ⁠– בנס הן עומדין, שנאמר: ״וחמש אמות כנף הכרוב האחת, וחמש אמות כנף הכרוב השנית, עשר אמות מקצות כנפיו ועד קצות כנפיו״. גופייהו היכא הוו קיימי? אלא שמע מינה: בנס הן עומדין.

Rabbenai says that Shmuel says: The cherubs stood miraculously and did not occupy any physical space, as it is stated: “And 5 cubits was one wing of the cherub, and 5 cubits was the second wing of the cherub; 10 cubits from the tip of its wings until the tip of its wings” (I Kings 6:24). Accordingly, the wings of two cherubs, standing side by side, would occupy the entire 20 cubits width of the Sanctuary. But if so, where, in what space, were their bodies standing? Since their wings alone, which protruded from the sides of cherubs’ bodies, occupied 20 cubits, there was no room left in which their bodies could stand. Rather, one must conclude from the verse that the cherubs stood miraculously and did not occupy any physical space.