Descent into Hell

 6)  The Cross as Descending into Hell (1 Peter 3:18-20; Colossians 1:18)

18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19After being made alive,  he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. (1 Peter 3:18-20)

8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name above all names, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11) 

18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the ssaid, upremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:18) 

7Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” 9What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descendedc to the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. (Ephesians 4:7-10)

The death of Jesus Christ in each of the passages above is tied to the descent into hell (sometimes called "The Harrowing of Hell").  
Here is a bit of the thinking on the descent into hell: 
The idea of Christ's descent into hell is found in scripture (above) but also in the early church- Hipppolytus (c. 200AD)  said, "Therefore as many as Satan swallowed and bound, these the Lord, when he came, loosed from the bonds of death, having bound him who was strong against us, but having set humanity free." Origen (c. 220 AD) "First therefore he bound him at the cross, and thus he has entered his house, that is Hades (infernum), and from there "ascending on high, he led captivity captive."  By the fifth century it was seen as an important enough concept to add to the Apostles' Creed and confirmed in 750 AD.  But this is a bit of a strange concept.  What does it mean?  Here are two main ideas:
1) Christ went to hell after he died on the cross and proclaimed his death to those in hell.  Some say this meant A) the seal of those doomed there- like a proclamation (Luther/Hodges/1 Peter 4:6) and the conquering of the devil and evil; Some say it B) released the Old Testament saints who were in the realm of the dead until Christ came (Zwingli, Roman Catholic); Others that it C) emptied out hell entirely. 
The scriptures are a bit less specific here.  Certainly every knee can bow to the proclamation of Christ's death on the cross.  
2) Christ went through hell for us on the cross.  Hell is separation from God.  Jesus said, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me" (quoting Psalm 22).  He bore our sins in his death on the cross.  John Calvin interpreted his descent into hell in this way.  
3) Some say this is just meant to say that this is just a symbolic way of saying Jesus died and has victory over death and hell.  It is true that evil, death, the destruction of his crucifiers, hell and the devil are all conquered by the cross.  
4) Some say this just confirms the fact of his really being dead and buried.  So in the creed it says, "He was dead and buried, descended into hell."  While this is true, this alone misses the scriptural meanings above. 

Whether you agree with Calvin that the death of Christ on the cross is "the descent into hell", certainly we can agree that the cross is where Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).   He became the fulfillment of all the Old Testament sacrifices.  It is on the cross that the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world (John 1:29).  
The cross is a symbol, therefore of the taking away of our sins, and also the victory over evil (and the devil and hell).  The cross is a powerful symbol that good conquers over evil.  

Application: Our response to this should be gratitude and praise.  Christ went through hell for us so that we would not have to.  He paid our price with the infinite value of His death.  

Prayer: Thank you God for the cross of Christ- on which He paid my penalty of judgment and hell.  Thank you for your victory over death, destruction, evil, and hell that enables me to be free- in this life and the next.