Hi,
The proscription is against the WORSHIPING of graven images (Exodus 20:4) --not the images themselves. A little later in Exodus we read: 'For the ends of this throne of mercy you are to make two golden cherubs; you are to make them of beaten gold. Verse 18.
Here God actually commands the Jews to make graven images to place in the holiest of places!
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.