I do have fig recipes that do not call for blanching, but I agree that the most current official approved recipes, like those from the National Center for Home Food Preservation do have a blanching step in the process.

I am going to assume that the blanching relates to one or more of these things:

1) Some figs (I am not sure if all varieties do) have a natural waxy coating that blanching might remove.

2) Figs are not, technically speaking, a fruit. They are a synconium, a form of a hollow pod lined with hundreds of tiny flowers. In order for pollination to ocur, insects must enter the tiny opening at the end of the synconium. Colloquially, this opening is often referred to as an eye, and I know that some fig varieties have a more open eye and some have a closed eye. Often, ants will take advantage of the tiny opening and crawl inside it and feed on the figs. So will some other small pests. So, I'm wondering if maybe the brief period of blanching is intended to drive out ants or any other tiny insects that might have craweled inside the eye? Figs are a huge family, and not all of them require pollination and some only need it for the second crop, but not the breba (first) crop. Some recipes call for a brief blanching period, a few call for a loner soak in water that then is discarded. I am not sure what the difference is, but maybe it relates to the finished product.

3) And, there's also the possibility that since figs must ripen fully on the tree since they do not continue to ripen after being harvested, that blanching is needed for the same purpose it is used with other fruits and veggies (generally pre-freezing or pre-drying) to halt the ripening enzymes from continuing to darken or soften the food (though I do not know why the BWB process wouldn't accomplish the same thing).

If you want an answer from a canning expert, which I am not, you can post this question over at the Harvest Forum here at Garden Web. That's where the canning experts hang out.