Luke 23: 43: And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Before Calvary, Paradise was a dimension or holding place for the Old Testament saints under the blood of bulls and goats who were waiting for their Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus, to come with the perfect blood atonement of His sacrifice on the cross to pay the price for all sin. It was the shedding of Jesus’ blood that introduced the New Testament, or new covenant according to Luke 22: 20: Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. The new covenant came into effect when Jesus carried His blood into the Holy of Holies of the heavenly sanctuary where it was accepted by the Father and cleansed the Old Testament saints who had trusted in the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 9: 16 – 17).
The blood of bulls and goats could only cover sin, but could not erase it. But with Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on Calvary, His blood put away all sin, erasing it forever. Jesus was then able to go to Paradise and proclaim to the waiting saints that He had made a perfect redemption for them. He had cashed every one of the promissory notes of Atonement, and now the Old Testament saints could go from Paradise to the presence of God in Heaven and receive their eternal inheritance.
When Jesus became sin for us and died on the cross, His theophany descended into Hell and dumped all the sin onto Satan’s dirty lap. Jesus then preached to the souls in prison (1 Peter 3: 19) and ripped the Keys of Hell and Death off of Satan (Revelation 1: 18). After this, Jesus’ theophany returned to the tomb where He re-entered and revived His physical body to a glorified state before ascending to Heaven where He presented Himself to God and cleansed the heavenly sanctuary of the sins of the righteous accumulated over 1500 years under the blood of bulls and goats. Lastly, Jesus descended into Paradise and used the Keys of Hell and Death to unlock the gates of Paradise and release the Old Testament captives (Ephesians 4: 8) who then came out of the graves after Jesus’ resurrection according to Matthew 27: 52 – 53: And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
When the theophanies of the Old Testament saints were released from Paradise, they picked up their flesh bodies when the graves were opened, and they became glorified. The disciples saw these glorified saints after Jesus’ resurrection when He showed Himself alive for the space of forty days according to Acts 1: 3: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: …With the saints no longer in Paradise, that dimension or holding place was done away with and no longer exists anymore.
Acts 1: 9: And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. When Jesus ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives after His forty days of showing Himself alive, He was taken up in a cloud. In His being taken up into Heaven, the Old Testament saints also ascended into Heaven with Him and were caught up in the same cloud. A good example to establish this can be seen with the resurrection and ascension of Moses and Elijah to Heaven in Revelation 11: 12: And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
When Jesus entered Heaven with the redeemed and glorified Old Testament saints following Him, then was fulfilled Psalm 24: 7 – 10: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.