In the 19th and 20th century, dowsing rods were commonly used to find water.  Apparently Oliver Cowdery believed he could get revelation from one of these rods, and Joseph Smith encouraged him to use his rod of revelation.

GT:  Okay, so let me make sure. I want to be clear on this. So, Oliver Cowdery has had a history of receiving his own revelations through this rod, or wand.
Clair:  Yes….Oliver shows up in 1829, and it’s literally, like within a month, that these revelations come out.
GT:  So, Oliver says, “Joseph, I get these revelations through my wand,” and then Joseph says, “Oh, you’re going to have this great gift, too.”
Clair:  Yes, and probably, I think, to be a translator.
…
GT:  So, then we get, I think it is D&C 10 where it says you must study it out in your mind.
Clair:  Right.
GT:  That’s a scripture that all of us are familiar with.
Clair:  Yeah.
GT:  I don’t think most of us are familiar with these rods.
Clair:  Right.
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Clair:  So Joseph had a seer stone, through which he translated. Oliver has a rod. My guess is that was what he was supposed to translate through, because he’d been getting revelations through it already, just like Joseph had been getting revelations through his seer stone. Both are treasure seeking tools. Why wouldn’t it be? It seems the most obvious thing. So Oliver, here’s how I read it. To Joseph, it’s easy. He pops the rock into a hat and man, he’s seeing stuff.  He can see, just like that. It’s easy and revelations come popping in.  He doesn’t even have to try. Then Oliver’s is like me, right? You give me anything. {Clair picks up a can of soda and talks to the can.}  It would be like, “Tell me some stuff.” And it just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t happen for Oliver.  Joseph says, “It’s easy, Oliver, you just study it out in your mind, and if you feel good about it, what you think the translation is, that’s it. If you have a stupor of thought, then that’s the wrong translation. But then it never works.
GT:  So is Oliver trying to use the seer stone? Or is he trying to use the rod?
Clair:  Well, we don’t know. I think it’s the rod.
Were you aware of this history with D&C 10?  Apparently other church leaders used a rod of revelation as well.  We will learn more about this in our next conversation with Clair Barrus.
Don’t miss our previous conversation with Clair Barrus!
406:  Masonic Connections in Oliver Cowdery’s Family