At least that's how the writer of "Hebrews" describes it (chap 11, heavily elided):

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for...[Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Abraham:] All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. [also Joseph, Moses, Israel's armies, Rahab and] Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us* so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

* Given the context of preceding chapters, "us" refers to Christians after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.