A "house" is essentially a container -- for a person, a family, several families or even a large group with shared interests (think of the term "houses of worship.") In the Bible, a "house" is also a container, but for spiritual things rather than natural things. In various uses a "house" can represent part of the mind, the whole mind, a whole person or even a church. The other nuance to the word "house" is that it is generally used in regards to our affections and desires rather than our thoughts and principles. This makes sense; we tend to engage our thoughts and rationality when we are out in the world doing our work, but when we are inside our houses we are driven most by love for our families and the desire to be good to those we love. So "house" tends to represent the things we want and care about -- which are ultimately the things that define us.

5043. Et il lui donna grâce aux yeux du prince de la maison de prison, signifie de là un soulagement dans les tentations : on le voit par la signification de donner grâce, en ce que c'est un soulagement ; car dans les tentations, donner grâce, c'est consoler et soulager par l'espérance ; par la signification du prince, en ce qu'il est le principal vrai, ainsi qu'il a été montré dans le paragraphe suivant ; et par la signification de la maison de prison , en ce qu'elle est la vastation du faux, par conséquent la tentation, numéros 5038, 5039.