And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me,.... Not of an angel, but of Christ himself, in a visionary way; for this was not a real hand, but the likeness of one, as in Ezekiel 8:3; and so the Targum here,

"and I saw, and behold, the likeness of a hand stretched out on the side to me.''

This symbol was to show that his prophecy, that he was sent to deliver, was from heaven and came from Christ; and that hand that delivered it to him would protect and defend him:

and, lo a roll of a book [was] therein; held in it, and held forth by it, to the prophet. Books were frequently written on parchment or vellum, and rolled about a stick, in form of a cylinder; and hence they were called volumes or rolls, Psalms 40:7. This roll was a symbol of the prophecy of this book.

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