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Their fate was not sealed. Heaven was not yet open. As a result, these dead resided in Sheol and that is where Christ went to free them.

Could I have your source for this???

Remember that Moses and Elijah appeared on the mount of transfiguration and John and Peter were told they could not communicate with them ....

Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which Christ descended, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.

Is not God omni present???

Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom"

When the rich man in Jesus teaching saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham he was looking at Lazarus being embraced, or held in the arms of Abraham. Abraham was greeting one of his descendants into heaven. Abraham’s bosom is not a place, but rather was the embrace of Abraham for one of his desendents

2nd Kings 2:1: And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2nd Kings2:11: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:20: All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecclesiastes 12:7: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it

Matthew 8:11: And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

The OT saints were saved the same as the NT saints.. by faith..by looking to a Savior as promised

Remember also that in the parable, the rich man looked at Lazarus in "Abraham's Bosum" and begged him to allow Lazarus to dip his finger in water and then somehow give it to him as he was tormented in the flames. Abraham said Lazarus could not do that because, "beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." (Luke 16:26)

I read this to mean that before Jesus died and rose again for the payment of sin, there was a place both souls went but it was a divided place. One side was called Paradise and the other side was Sheol. One side peaceful and comforting, the other, tormenting. However, I disagree with anyone who thinks that this place still exists for the righteous (righteous in Christ) under a different name - like Purgatory. I see no Scriptural reason that it should still be in place as like Paul said, absent from the body, present with the Lord. I believe that the Sheol part still DOES exist for the condemned - unbelievers. At the final judgment is when the real Hell in created for Satan, his angels, the anti-Christ, false prophet, and all those who ever were in Sheol with everyone else since the Resurrection who refused to trust in Christ.

I wish everyone a blessed and joyous Resurrection Day!