When you are offered a "rate lock" from a lender, it means that you are guaranteed to keep a set interest rate for a certain number of days while you work on your application process. This saves you from going through your entire application process and finding out at the end that the interest rate has risen higher.
Rate lock periods can vary in length, between fifteen to sixty days, with the longer period usually costing more. You can get a longer period for your lock, but in doing so, will likely have a higher interest rate than you would with a shorter period
In addition to choosing the shorter rate lock period, there are more ways you can get the best rate. The bigger the down payment, the better the interest rate will be, as you will be entering the loan with more equity. You might opt to pay points to bring down your interest rate over the loan term, meaning you pay more up front. To a lot of people, this makes financial sense..
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