An hand was sent (put forth, Revised Version) unto me, etc. Apparently the hand was not that of the human form seated on the throne (Ezekiel 1:26), nor of one of the four living creatures (Ezekiel 1:8), but one appearing mysteriously by itself, as in the history of Belshazzar's feast (Daniel 5:5).
The words connect themselves with the use of the hand stretched out of a cloud as the symbols of the Divine energy both in Jewish and Christian art. The writer has in his possession a Jewish brass tablet, probably of the sixteenth century, commemorating the legend of the miraculous supply of oil at the Feast of the Dedication, in which such a hand appears as pouring oil into the seven-branched candlestick, or lamp, of the temple.
Lo, a roll of a book, etc. The words remind us of the volume, or roll, in Psalms 40:7; Jeremiah 36:2; Zechariah 5:1; like those which are still used in Jewish synagogues.