To me, it's a allegory for the soul. The talent is the soul. The gift given to you by God. The servants all started with the same gift. Some servants used

To me, it's a allegory for the soul. The talent is the soul. The gift given to you by God. The servants all started with the same gift. Some servants used that gift to lift up the other souls around them, presumably out of despair and into the light. The other decided that he should hide his gift and only think for himself. It's God's commandment to put your life to the purpose of bettering others. Merely showing up to Heaven with only your own soul to account for is not what he wants.