Each minute gone by made 'it" nearer the time when he would come. what is "it" for? Does "it" means "the time"

Question

In this sentence, what does "it" for? This "it" means "the time when he would come"? If so, why dosen't it just say "...made nearer the time when..." except "it"?

Answer 1

It means the present time.

Time is seen as a journey everything is going through.

So the 2 times are seen as:
1 the time we are at = 'it'
2 'the time where he would come'

1 is moving towards 2 as 'each minute goes by'.

You can even say that time as such is not just time by a watch here, but time as defined by events. 'The time where he would come' is not defined by a calendar, but the occurrence of an event. So is 1, defined by us being there.

Answer 2

Each minute gone by made death nearer the time when Christ would come.

Every minute we live we are closer to our death than the minute before.

Sort of stinks huh?

Answer 3

Whoa! Far too complicated for this time of night.

If it was earlier i could get very philosophical. This time of time everything sounds sexual.

Sorry!