Jesus is beginning to lengthen the time horizon of His teaching. The fig tree is signaling that summer is near. A new day is dawning, which follows the patterns of the past. God is starting over with the righteous, after removing the unrighteous. Just like in past ages, Christ will return at the end of this age as well. The final "Day of the Lord" to come is like the "Days of the Lord" in the past; the Lord will come yet again to remove the unrighteous and vindicate His saints with eternal peace. We know neither the day nor the hour, and so we must remain watchful and vigilant, always labouring under the lordship of Jesus Christ, for He is coming at an hour that we do not expect.