I thought it was some kind way that Jack's dad is trying to tell him something I almost think if Ericka hadn't of came in they might had talked and this might be where Jack gets the message that they need to go back to the island, he had tried to get back on his own but it appears he/they can only get back with the other Oceanic 6. Maybe that's why Hurley tells Jack during the basketball scene they need to go back.

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Standing in the ocean with the sun burning low in the west
Like a fire in the cavernous darkness at the heart of the beast
With my beliefs and possessions, stopped at the frontier in my chest
At the edge of my country, my back to the sea, looking east