messenger, emissary, send emissary
伻 centers on a person acting as a go-between: a messenger or emissary sent to deliver a message or represent someone.
伻 combines 亻 (person) with 平, which likely contributes the sound. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the structure suggests a person associated with the sound 平.
A person 亻 beside 平 (flat/even) can be seen as a messenger who evens out communication between two sides, carrying words back and forth.
For ホウ, imagine a messenger holding a hoe (ホウ) while delivering a message across a flat field: hoe -> ホウ, and the person 亻 uses the hoe to clear the path.