The House of God
Preserved but no longer current.
Not solely a church, or a temple made with hands, but any place sanctified by God's presence. Thus, Jacob in the wilderness, where he saw the ladder set up leading from earth to heaven, said, "This is none but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (Gen. xxviii, 17).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The House of God” mean?
Not solely a church, or a temple made with hands, but any place sanctified by God's presence. Thus, Jacob in the wilderness, where he saw the ladder set up leading from earth to heaven, said, "This is none but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" (Gen. xxviii, 17).
Is “The House of God” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.