I think the simple answer is that it's a statement of utmost loyalty. To tell someone that you'll "follow" them to the "end of the world" pretty much means that you'll follow them to the death. Now normally the end of the world is obviously associated with Armageddon, but in this case, since the saying starts with a physical verb such as "I'll follow", it could also be referring to Flat Earth theory where people commonly believed that after a reaching a certain point, the Earth just stopped and you could fall off (see image). I don't exactly know the origins of the phrase, but it's possible it got coined around the Medieval times, if it is related to the latter possibility?
Either way, it's important because it implies unconditional love, trust, and fidelity to whoever it is being said to. Even though it may have started out as a semi-literal expression (and arguably still is) it's still an extreme statement, saying even if they make mistakes or do bad things, they'll still have you staying by their side through everything.
Hope that helped a bit.
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