What happened to paradise and to Old Testament believers' sins after Jesus died on the cross?
After the cross and the supreme sacrifice, when divine blood had been shed, the sins of Old Testament believers were atoned for, not merely covered as before. Because animal blood could only cover sin, they previously could not enter glory; but after that atoning work, God took paradise up into heaven.
Les explains that atonement means at-one-ment, but no one can become one with God until the resurrection power and finished work of the cross, which had not yet happened in Old Testament times. The blood of animals could not take away sin; the Hebrew word Kephar meant to cover, as when something is covered with bitumen. The Day of Atonement was therefore a covering, not a removing, of Israel's sin. David said, "Blessed is the man whose sins are covered," showing they were not done away with. That is why the Old Testament believer could not go into glory when he died: his sins were covered, not atoned for, and he waited for the true atoning work of the cross. After the cross, after the supreme sacrifice and divine blood had been shed, their sins were atoned for, and God took paradise up into heaven.