If Ezekiel was not thinking back to Solomon's Temple in his vision, perhaps he was looking forward and seeing a glimpse of the "second Temple" that would be built by the returning exiles from Babylon? This rebuilt structure is often called Zerubbabel's Temple as Zerubbabel was a leader among the captives allowed to return to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was a grandson of Jehoichin and thus a descendant of David. He was eventually appointed governor by Darius.
It would make sense that Ezekiel was given an encouraging vision to prophesy to the exiled community, revealing to them the new Temple that their children would build in Jerusalem. As when Moses was given the directions for the Tabernacle, Ezekiel's vision could have served as a blueprint for the Temple's rebuilding.
Except that it didn't.
Ezekiel's vision in chapters 40 to 47 eclipses the reality of what Zerubbabel would build in size and scale. I have heard that the second Temple was quite a humble structure, even in comparison to Solomon's Temple which had been constructed centuries earlier. It is said that old men who could remember the first Temple wept when they saw the foundation of the second, sorrowed at what a pale imitation it was. God's glory was never described as being a part of Zerubbabel's Temple, and no river ever flowed from it. It does not at all match the majesty of what Ezekiel was trying to describe from his vision.
Unfortunately, it appears that, whatever Ezekiel saw in his vision, it was most likely not Zerubbabel's Temple.
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