It’s from ‘The Invisible Man’, considered one of the greatest American novels (and linguistically fascinating). It begins with the character describing his bizarre situation as a prelude to the rest of the book which describes the life he lived to get there. Most simplistically the phrase could simply represent that the same point of his life appears at both the beginning and end of the book. But there is certainly symbolic meaning as well, which could be debated. For example, it could mean that the current situation is a result of things which happened long ago, and that change won’t happen for a long time.

Suppose you enroll in some difficult program. For example, you might decide to pursue an advanced degree in neuroscience. It will require much work, time, and discipline, and you might not even succeed. The end is far away. But! Once you do earn your degree you will have only just begun.

I'm unfamiliar with the quote and its context so I'm going to have to guess a bit here. I believe that this quote means that we can guess the ending of the story by how the story starts. Or, that the way the story ends is also the same way in which the story starts. It might have a similar meaning to the phrase 'History repeats itself'. The 'and lies far ahead' part probably means that the end of the story is not close. For example, if we are just starting to read the book or watch the movie, then the end 'lies far ahead'.