If you're getting 238 between hot and ground, then it sounds like the ground is shorted with the opposite phase hot from the hot you were measuring. I say this because the only way to get 238V is to measure voltage across two opposite phase 120V hots.

If this were an issue upstream from the electric panel (i.e with the street service), then I'd think half the circuits in the house would be shorted and the other half would be bumped up to 240V.

In other words, I'd call an electrician immediately rather than the utility company.

(I'm not an electrician, though.)