Manager Paul Le Guen made five changes from Thursday with Libor Sionko, Barry Ferguson, Jeremy Clement, Charlie Adam and Dado Prso replacing Julien Rodriguez, Gavin Rae, Thomas Buffel, Makhtar N'Diaye and Filip Sebo.
The pitch reflected both the weather of recent days and the toll taken of it by Thursday's UEFA Cup-tie with Partizan Belgrade - a mudheap that would undoubtedly benefit the more physical style of Celtic compared with the classical football of the Ibrox men.
Both sides were cautious in the early stages, with Boruc the first goalkeeper to be tested when he held Ferguson's 25-yard shot from a Prso lay-off.
Two minutes later the Ibrox Captain should have opened the scoring when, clean through from a Karl Svensson chip, he somehow shot over.
It was all Rangers - and Nacho Novo was denied by Boruc in 21 minutes when he seized on a misplaced Neil Lennon back pass to send a curling shot goalwards from 25 yards only for the Pole to turn it wide.
The game's first controversial incident arrived on the half-hour mark when Prso, through on a Novo pass, was hauled down by Stephen McManus. Referee Kenny Clark immediately pointed to the spot, only for the decision to be reversed due to an offsidse flag from linesman Tom Murphy.
Unbelievably the opening goal when it arrived in 37 minutes came at the other end when Thomas Gravesen rifled the ball home from a tight angle after Allan McGregor had misjudged a Lee Naylor cross.
Sixty seconds later Lennon blatantly dived when challenged by Steven Smith, but although the referee correctly waved play on he ommitted to yellow-card the Celtic Captain for simulation.
Celtic went out for the kill - and Shunsuke Nakamura tested McGregor in 39 minutes with a 25-yard shot from a Jiri Jarosik lay-off that the goalkeeper held.
Rangers, frustrated by the injustice of it all, almost equalised three minutes later when Karl Svensson's header from a Ferguson corner was cleared off the line by Naylor.
The final action of the half came at the other end - Aiden McGeady's mazy run ending with a shot that was beaten away by McGregor.
The visiting fans in the Broomloan Road Stand polluted the half-time atmosphere with their sickening chants and songs in support of terrorist organisations accompanied by their customary sectarian filth.
Rangers continued to force the pace upon the restart - and were twice denied by the woodwork on the hour when Adam's cross found Prso whose piledriver struck an upright, the rebound finding Novo whose netbound shot was turned onto the other post by Boruc.
Two minutes later Novo was through only to shoot wide, then in 66 minutes as the one-way traffic intensified Sionko's angled drive from a Clement cross was held by Boruc.
Both sides made substitutions on 71 minutes with Sebo replacing Sionko and Kenny Miller and Stephen Pearson replacing Nakamura and Jarosik.
Rangers were now piling on the pressure as the minutes ticked away - Boruc denying Svensson in 81 minutes with a superb one-handed save after the Swede had met a Prso headflick following a Ferguson free-kick on the volley, then sixty seconds later the goalkeeper held a Hutton header from Ferguson's
corner.
Justice was at last served in 87 minutes when Hemdani netted with a twenty-yard shot following a Ferguson corner.
Rangers went all out for what would have been a fully merited win - and Sebo was through on a Prso pass in the last minute only to see his drive blocked by the legs of Boruc, who had almost single-handedly kept his side in the game.
Afterwards Le Guen summarised:
“The team showed character and determination. We showed we can compete. We are improving and becoming more consistent. I was happy with the performance, but disappointed with the draw.”
Celtic Manager Gordon Strachan was honest enough to admit:
“Rangers played well and deserved a draw. Artur Boruc saved us. It was a cracking game of football.”
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Hemdani, Svensson, Smith; Sionko (Sebo 71), Ferguson, Clement, Adam (Buffel 80); Prso, Novo
UNUSED SUBS Rae, Klos, Papac, Rodriguez, Stanger
CELTIC Boruc; Wilson, Balde, McManus, Naylor; Nakamura (Miller 71), Lennon, Gravesen, McGeady; Zurawski, Jarosik (Pearson71)
UNUSED SUBS Marshall, Riordan, O'Dea, Sno, Telfer
REFEREE Kenny Clark