"The next day - on the first day of the Passover ceremonies - the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, "Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: 'After three days I will be raised from the dead.' So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he came back to life!" (Matthew 27:62-64)
There's some debate about what Jesus was doing, spiritually, between his death and resurrection. Some say he descended into hell while others say he went to Paradise (different from Heaven) to get the faithful and take them to Heaven.
Back on Earth: What I find kind of funny about the waiting period was that the Pharisees remembered Jesus' promise to come back from the dead after three days, unlike the disciples. Maybe Jesus infuriated the religious leaders just enough that it stuck out in their minds more than the people that spent every day with him. Maybe the loss of sunlight, the earthquake, and seeing people that were supposed to be dead walking around made them fear that Jesus might actually make good on his word, and they didn't want him to have a way out of his grave. I don't know. So, while the disciples returned home to observe the Sabbath and mourn their loss, the Pharisees made sure the tomb was sealed tightly and guarded.
For me, on this day of anticipation, I'm thinking about the words from Psalm 27: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
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