what does "Verifying iPad restore with Apple..." mean? And why is it taking so long?

I was told to update the software on my brand new iPad Pro. I was told to download Apple Deviced to my Windows computer and do this. So I did. Update. But it got stuck.

I was then told to press Up, Down, Top hold. I did, the iPad rebooted and went right back to the stuck state that it was in.

I was then told that I may have to restore my iPad to factory settings. Ok, it's new. I'm not losing anything. Now it is stuck on "Verifying iPad restore with Apple..." What is the issue? Is there only one guy at Apple who say ok to the verify and he's on vacation for all of January?? This should not take this long to get past an initial setup step.