Hands in the Bible represent power, the force with which things are put into action. To be specific, they represent the power of spiritual good -- which is the love of others and serving others -- expressed through spiritual truth -- which is an understanding and knowledge of what it is to love and serve others. This is in contrast to the feet, which represent power on the natural level, and a “rod,” which represents the power of the hand passed down into external or natural ideas. In a few cases in the Bible, hands also represent communication and a drawing together. This is true when people lift their hands to heaven or to Jehovah, and also when the Lord touches children or touches people to heal them.

6853. 'For I know their sorrows' means foresight of how deeply they would be plunged into falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'knowing', when used in reference to the Lord, as foresight (the reason why 'knowing' is foresight is that the Lord has known from eternity about every single thing); and from the meaning of 'sorrows' as being plunged into falsities. For when people who are governed by good are plunged into falsities they experience feelings of anguish and anxiety. They suffer torment, for they love truths and loathe falsities, and are thinking all the time about salvation and about how unhappy they will be if those falsities get the better of them. But those who are not governed by good are completely unconcerned about whether falsities or truths reign in them; for they do not think at all about salvation and unhappiness since they do not believe there are any such things. The delights of self-love and love of the world take away any firm belief regarding life after death. These people are immersed all the time in falsities. Being plunged into falsities is presented in the next life as waves engulfing a person and rising ever higher as the falsities grow more profuse, until the waves rise over his head; and they appear tenuous or solid according to the nature of the falsities. The experience of being plunged into falsities which the wicked undergo looks like a mistiness or cloudiness, more or less murky, which surrounds them and cuts them off completely from the brightness of the light of heaven.