What's Up With Statues?

So often Catholics are accused of worshipping statues. Which is partially understandable if you see a Catholic kneeling in front one. There is though biblical basis for having them

Lets start with some basics.
First God made Man in his own image. So images in and of themselves can't be evil or else the fact that God made us into an image of himself would be evil.

Second what needs to be understood is the temple of the Jews.
While the Israelites are in the desert Moses goes up on the mountain and is given directions concerning the construction of the tabernacle or portable temple.
god says this:

Exodus 25:9 "According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
Exodus 25:40 "And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

So Moses does just that, he constructs these things after the pattern that he saw. And the original tabernacle or temple is in heaven. That is what Moses is seeing.

So when God told him to put two cherubim on the ark here on the earth that is because there are two cherubim on the ark in heaven.

When the Israelites had finally reached the promised land and Solomon was building the temple. He made it like the tabernacle but bigger.

Look what else Solomon has:
2 Chronicles 3:7 7 He also overlaid the house with gold-- the beams, the thresholds, and its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

And not only this but the temple is also decorated with all sorts of tees and flowers. Why? Because this is what the temple in heaven looks like.

Now something that we want to ask ourselves is this:
Why aren't there any statues of people, meaning humans, in the temple?
Well if the temple on earth is a representation of the temple in heaven, the reason why there were no statues of humans in the temple is because there were no humans in heaven yet, Jesus had not yet opened the gates of heaven.

So now that there are humans in heaven, if you are going to build a replica of the heavenly temple, like almost every Catholic Church is, or should be - then it better have statues in it of those who are in heaven.

So what about the first commandment that says that we aren't to make graven images?

Exodus 20:3-5 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God.

The context is clearly worshipping these idols, not just making graven images. and besides God would say 5 chapters later in Exodus 25 to make 2 graven images of cherubim.
Now we certainly aren't worshipping those statues or saints of whom they represent.