In the episode, the humans capture a fuel-rich asteroid from the Cylons using a plan devised by Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.
President Laura Roslin begins seeing visions, and Gaius Baltar comes to believe that his contribution to the raid on the asteroid was guided by God.
Commander Adama decides to take the asteroid by force and, with help from Starbuck (who is unable to fly a Viper because of a knee injury she received), comes up with a plan that uses the civilian fleet to draw out the Cylon Raiders.
Just as all seems lost, the freighters unveil a secreted squadron of 12 Vipers led by Apollo, who now have a clear path to the asteroid.
The writing staff referred to this episode as "the Big Mac" during production because they believed the action would make it a crowd pleaser.
[3] Show composer Bear McCreary said "The Hand of God" was one of his favorite episodes to score of the first season and described it as "a lot of fun.
[5][6] Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave "The Hand of God" an A−, calling the action sequences "pretty awesome".
[7] Simon Brew of Den of Geek reviewed the episode favorably, singling out for praise the use of the big board and "the increasing complexity of Roslin".