Jesus' sacrifice covers our eternal hell? I believe that Jesus' death (his punishment) is a substitute for our death (our punishment) which allows us into heaven--Jesus paid the price for our sins. I also believe that this substitutionary payment works.

However, I am slightly confused as to how Jesus temporal sacrifice paid our everlasting punishment.

Unsaved people are punished for their sins by being sent to hell--forever.


  8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 


Matt 18:8 (KJV)

Our punishment (we were unsaved) was taken by Jesus. Jesus' torture on the cross was horrible; I am not arguing against that. But how does Jesus single death on the cross pay for my eternal hell?

Is there some aspect of His suffering that I have missed?
Jesus' death was sufficient simply because DEATH is the punishment for our sins, not suffering. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Savior must suffer for a long time to cover our sins, only His death. 

If you look at all these verses, we'll see that "Christ died" and it is enough: http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=christ+died&amp;t=KJV#s=s_primary_0_1

The punishment the law required for our sins was not the whippings on His back or even hell, but death. Jesus’ substitutionary death perfectly fulfilled the offerings of the OT.

In the OT, the sinner needed to bring an offering to the priest to atone for his sins. It was enough for the animal to die, not for the animal to suffer, and suffer, and suffer.