“Where was Jesus for the three days between His death and resurrection?”……1 Peter 3:18-19 states, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison"

.” The phrase, “by the Spirit,” in verse 18 is exactly the same construction as the phrase, “in the body.” So it seems best to relate the word “spirit” to the same realm as the word “flesh.” The flesh and spirit are Christ’s flesh and spirit. The words “made alive by (in) the spirit” point to the fact that Christ’s sin-bearing and death brought about the separation of His human spirit from the Father Matthew 27:46At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"The contrast is between flesh and spirit, as in Matthew 27:46 and Romans 1:3-4

Romans 1:3-4The good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David's family line,4 and he was shown to be[a] the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.[] He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

and not between Christ’s flesh and the Holy Spirit. When Christ’s atonement for sin was completed, His spirit restored the fellowship which had been broken.…describes a necessary link between Christ’s suffering (verse 18) and His glorification (verse 22).

…1Peter 3:18-22Christ suffered[ for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit So he went and preached to the spirits in prison- those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible floodAnd that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God froma clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

Only Peter gives specific information about what happened between these two events. The word “preached” in verse 19 is not the usual word in the New Testament to describe the preaching of the gospel. It literally means to herald a message.

Jesus suffered and died on the Cross, His body being put to death, and His spirit died when He was made sin. But His spirit was made alive and He yielded it to the Father. According to Peter, sometime between His death and His resurrection Jesus made a special proclamation to “the spirits in prison.”……To begin with, Peter referred to people as “souls” and not “spirits” (3:20). In the New Testament, the word “spirits” is used to describe angels or demons, not human beings, and verse 22 seems to bear out this meaning. Also, nowhere in the Bible are we told that Jesus visited hell. Acts 2:31David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah's resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

says that He went to “Hades” (New American Standard Bible), but “Hades” is not hell. The word “Hades” refers to the realm of the dead, a temporary place where they await the resurrection. Revelation 20:11-15 in the NASB or the New International Version give a clear distinction between the two. Hell is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades is a temporary place.

Revelation 20:11-15Then I saw a great white )throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence )earth and heaven fled away, and )no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and anotherbook was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them)according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.…Our Lord yielded His spirit to the Father, died, and at some time between death and resurrection, visited the realm of the dead where He delivered a message to spirit beings (probably fallen angels; who were somehow related to the period before the flood in Noah’s time.

Jude 1:6And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.

Verse 20 makes this clear. Peter did not tell us what He proclaimed to these imprisoned spirits, but it could not be a message of redemption since angels cannot be saved

Hebrews 2:16We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham.. It was probably a declaration of victory over Satan and his hosts

1 Peter 3:22Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

Colossians 2:15.In this way, he disarmed[a] the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Ephesians 4:8-10That is why the Scriptures say, "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people." Notice that it says "he ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

It also seems to indicate that Christ went to "paradise" and took to heaven all those who had believed in Him prior to His death.

Luke 16:20At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores

Luke 23:43And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

The passage doesn't give a great amount of detail about what occurred, but most Bible scholars agree that this is what is meant by "led captivity captive."……So, all that to say, the Bible isn't entirely clear what exactly Christ did for the three days between His death and resurrection. It does seem, though, that He was preaching victory over the fallen angels and/or unbelievers.

What we can know for sure is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance for salvation. The Bible tells us that we face judgment after death, not a second chance.

Hebrews 9:27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

There isn’t really any definitively clear answer for what Jesus was doing for the time between His death and resurrection. Perhaps this is one of the mysteries we will understand once we reach glory.