All of Scripture has two senses: The literal sense and the spiritual sense. The literal sense is the "historical sense" which is conveyed by the words themselves. The spiritual sense is the "mystical sense" which is conveyed by the realities of salvation history which point to other realities.
Example: The literal sense of the story of the Exodus is the historical event by which Moses and the Israelites went forth from the land of Egypt. A spiritual sense of the Exodus is that Jesus is the Passover Lamb and the passage through the Red Sea is Christian baptism.
The literal sense of the parable is that the covenant which was first offered to the Jews (hired early in the day) is now offered to the Gentiles (hired at the end of the day). It also indicates that those who have been faithful all life long (hired early in the day) and those who convert later in life (hired at the end of the day) will receive the same essential joy of heaven (the daily wage).
A spiritual sense of the parable is that we all have strengths (those hired early in the day) and weaknesses (those hired late in the day), and God wants to use both for his glory.
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