ורבנן אמרי אותן שמכסות בהן רגליהם שנאמר (יחזקאל א, ז) ורגליהם רגל ישרה ואי לאו דאימעוט מנא הוה ידע דלמא דאיגלאי וחזיא ליה דאי לא תימא הכי ודמות פניהם פני אדם הכי נמי דאימעוט אלא דאיגלאי וחזיא ליה הכא נמי דאיגלאי וחזיא ליה
And the Rabbis say, "The ones that they would cover their legs with, as it is said, 'And their legs were one straight leg (Ezekiel 1:7),' and if the [wings covering the legs, as described in Isaiah 6:2] were not subtracted, how would he know? Maybe they were uncovered and he saw them. For if you don't say like this, [then regarding the verse], "And the likeness of their face [which was also covered by wings in Isaiah 6:2]: a man's face... (Ezekiel 1:10)," how [do you explain it]? Were they also subtracted? Rather, if they were uncovered and he saw them, here too, they [could have been] uncovered and he saw them.
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
It is written in the Zohar (Shemot, 2b): We must ask, if Yehezkel was a faithful prophet, then why did he reveal all that he saw in his prophetic vision? If the king invites someone into his private chamber, is it proper for that person to divulge all he saw there to the press? Yet it is clear that Yehezkel was a faithful prophet. He had permission from God to reveal all that he did. Furthermore, everything he revealed was necessary. The Zohar concludes that all that Yehezkel revealed was necessary for the people of Israel to know in order to survive the ensuing exile. They were accustomed to great delights while living in the land of Israel, and the Babylonian exile was going to be harsh. Therefore they needed to receive the knowledge of Ma’aseh Merkava dressed in this form, as the Gemara says (Hagiga, 13b), “Yeshayahu was like a townsman who saw the king, while Yehezkel was like a country person who saw the king.”
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