As has already been answered, there is significance. Feanor asked for a single strand three different times and Galadriel refused him for his apparent (to her) dark intentions or mood. Frustrated, Feanor is inspired to make the Silmarils that will also capture the light of the trees of Valinor (as Galadriel's hair was poetically said to do). The Silmarils, in turn, cause pretty much all of the conflict read about in the Silmarillion.
Fast forward a couple of ages to Gimli asking Galadriel for a single strand (as Feanor had done before). Before giving him three, Galadriel asks what he would do with it. "Treasure it, Lady,' he answered, 'in memory of your words to me at our first meeting. And if ever I return to the smithies of my home, it shall be set in imperishable crystal to be an heirloom to my house, and a pledge of good will between the Mountain and the Wood until the end of days." (Fellowship of the Ring, Farewell to Lorien).
Feanor wanted the hair, but when denied, made jewels that he coveted far too greatly. It caused tragedy upon tragedy in Middle-Earth lasting for thousands of years. Actually, the last vestiges of the evil ripples caused by Feanor's oath regarding the Silmarils is undone with the destruction of the One Ring.
Gimli also wishes to make it a jewel. However, in contrast, he will not covet it maliciously, but wishes it to be a symbol of good will between the peoples of Middle-Earth. Gimli, an otherwise unremarkable dwarf (from a historical standpoint) is surpassing the quality of the "greatest" of all elves. In a book filled with historical subtexts, this scene has one of the best and most important. It is showing that world history (along with many other things) has a chance at redemption.
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