Following this line of reasoning, we can elaborate on the chiddush of the Kedushas Levi even further. Undoubtedly, certain privileged and elite individuals and the tzaddikim of the generation can claim to have seen a vision of the third Beis HaMikdash on Shabbas Chazon; but they are definitely a minority. What about the rest of us? After all, the Kedushas Levi asserts that HKB”H shows this vision to every Jew.
I would like to propose a wonderful way to explain the matter. In Asarah Ma’amaros, the divine kabbalist, the Rama of Pano, teaches that even in times of galus after the churban of the Beis HaMikdash, Eliyahu HaNavi “zachur la’tov,” stands in the Beis HaMikdash and offers the two daily “tamid” offerings—one in the morning and one in the evening. This gibes with the statement in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Pinchas) that Eliyahu HaNavi is a kohen descended from Aharon HaKohen: Pinchas is Eliyahu.
Concerning this matter, we find a fascinating passage in the Yitav Lev (Emor). After bringing the above down in the name of the Asarah Ma’amaros, he writes: I was told by my teacher, the author of the Yismach Moshe, that once after finishing Shemoneh Esrei, he prayed to witness this phenomenon described in the Asarah Ma’amaros, and HKB”H fulfilled his request. He saw with his own eyes Eliyahu dressed in the priestly garments offering the korban tamid.
We can expand on this incredible story by referring to what we have learned in the Gemara (Berachos 26b): "תפלות כנגד תמידין תקנום"—the tefilos were instituted (by the Anshei Kenesses HaGedolah) to correspond to the (daily) “Tamid” offerings. Shacharis corresponds to the morning korban “tamid”; Minchah corresponds to the afternoon korban “tamid”; Arvis corresponds to the limbs and fats that remained unconsumed by the mizbeiach during the day and were offered on the mizbeiach throughout the night. Thus, we can conjecture that when Jews pray Shemoneh Esrei down below, which correspond to the tamid offerings, it triggers a corresponding action above— Eliyahu offers the corresponding korban tamid in the Beis HaMikdash above in the heavens.
This explains beautifully the formula we recite at the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei: "יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו, שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו"—may it be Your will, Hashem, our G-d, and the G-d of our fathers, that the Beis HaMikdash be built speedily in our times. In other words, since the Shemoneh Esrei prayers correspond to the korban tamids, we pray for the privilege to actually offer these korbanos in the third Beis HaMikdash in the near future.
This puts the story of the Yismach Moshe in clearer perspective. As explained, Shemoneh Esrei is associated with the korban tamid; our prayer causes Eliyahu HaNavi to actually offer the korban tamid in the Beis HaMikdash above. Hence, it was specifically after he concluded his Shemoneh Esrei that the Yismach Moshe yearned to witness this phenomenon. As he attests, his wish was granted; he witnessed how his tefilah prompted the offering of the korban tamid by Eliyahu HaNavi in the heavens.
