That's a very nice analogy. I like it! God created the Universe in such a way that it screams "Explore me!"
We're probably going to find some extremely valuable resources starting with the outer edge of the Asteroid Belt. Hydrogen compounds, water, oil, natural gas, chocolate, isolated regions to put monasteries. It's cold and dark, though, and probably nuclear fission materials are scarce, but if we can get nuclear fusion we'll be set for a long time to come.
It will all be robotics, though. The occasional human traipsing out there would probably be just an aspiring artist, writer, needing some peace and quiet for his work.