Lest Israel misunderstand the true author of these passages, the Lord identifies himself using one of the standard identifiers by which He is known - the first and the last (and later Alpha and Omega, having precisely the same meaning). He becomes even more explicit by defining his role in the creation of the world. Note the imagery of the right hand, which is well documented in both Biblical and world literature as a symbol for the right (pun not only intended, but so structurally integrated as to be the equivalent, and therefore not really even a pun) and good.
Literary analysis: Within the general text comes this simple parallelism where the operation of creation is done in two passes, each with the right hand (the linking element) and a different procedure (expanding on the concept of creation by treating it as a multiplicity rather than a single act). The final phrase unites the two distinct actions into a whole. There is no intent in this passage to describe a physical reality of the creation of the world, rather a literary symbol that the disparate acts (known from Genesis) were part of a creative, cohesive, whole.