Madara was restricted of Limbo, which is his primary jutsu. He probably means that.
Ah, as for the black rods part, they can only be activated using blood. Madara as an Edo could not actually do anything to Hashirama in terms of the rod advantage, but he stabbed Hashirama with them in order to use them when he came back to life. Hope you understand.
Still, Hashirama > Nagato anyday.